Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has delivered an emotional defence of his late mother after Pauline Hanson reignited criticism of his upbringing, arguing the One Nation leader’s remarks were ‘nasty’ and ‘spiteful’.
The extraordinary exchange centres on comments Hanson made earlier this year about Albanese’s frequent references to growing up in public housing with his single mother in Sydney.
Speaking on The Karl Stefanovic Show, Hanson questioned why Albanese’s mother remained in public housing for decades.
‘Housing commission houses should not be there for people to live in them for 30, 40 years and he said his mother lived in the same one she was born in for 65 years,’ Hanson said.
‘Sorry, that is not on, to me. It should be limited time; you have been given a hand up, move it on to the next ones coming through.’
Asked about the remarks during a press conference at Kirribilli House on Sunday, Albanese mounted a passionate defence of his mother, Maryanne Ellery, who raised him as a single parent while battling serious health problems.
‘Firstly, she made comments about me complaining about growing up in public housing. Nothing could be further from the truth,’ Albanese said.
‘I’m proud of the community in which I grew up. I’m also proud of my mother.’
Anthony Albanese (right) slammed Pauline Hanson over her comments about his mother
The Prime Minister has described his mother’s life as a story marked by courage and sacrifice, rather than privilege.
‘She was someone who made the courageous decision in 1963 to keep a child out of wedlock, who is now the Prime Minister of Australia,’ he said.
‘She was compassionate, not uncaring. She was generous, not mean. And she was kind, not nasty. She was a person of great character.’
Albanese recalled how his mother worked overnight cleaning offices in Sydney while raising him during the day, despite living with debilitating rheumatoid arthritis.
‘She had a tough life,’ he said.
‘But you know what? She also had great sayings. One of them was, “There’s always someone worse off than yourself”.’
He said his mother never complained about her situation and was highly respected in her community.
‘She never complained, she never denigrated anyone. She respected everyone,’ he said.
‘I grew up in a community that looked after each other. It was the opposite of being elite. She was a battler.’
