Prime Minister Anthony Albanese reveals his surprise job as a teenager before he went into politics: ‘It was hot, hard work’
- Anthony Albanese opened up on past jobs
- He made a surprising admission
Anthony Albanese has recalled the ‘hot and hard work’ he endured while flipping burgers at McDonalds as a teenager.
The prime minister took to TikTok with Australian singer Budjerah last Saturday at a Red Eye Records store.
The footage was posted to celebrate the annual Record Store Day event where Mr Albanese was videoed perusing record shelves with the songwriter.
Budjerah opened up on his passion saying he would continue to sing even is he was not famous and working at McDonald’s.
The throwaway comment prompted Mr Albanese to make a very surprising admission as he revealed he had worked at the fast food restaurant in the past.
Anthony Albanese has recalled the ‘hot and hard work’ he endured while flipping burgers at McDonalds as a teenager
‘I used to work at Maccas, one of the many jobs I had,’ he said.
It is not the first time the Prime Minister has opened up on his experience at McDonald’s.
He mentioned the challenges of his job making burgers at the iconic restaurant when he faced the press as Opposition leader in February 2021.
‘I used to work at Maccas, I know what it’s like to have a bit of food or drink during your break,’ he said.
‘And you need to do it, particularly as I used to work out the back – it was hot, hard work.’
His words came after the fast food giant made a submission to an inquiry into Christian Porter’s industrial relations bill that month.
Mr Albanese has not shied away from publicly speaking about his humble roots in the past.
During the election campaign in 2022, Mr Albanese opened up on what it was like to be raised by a single mother.
His mother Maryanne, became pregnant on a cruise after a dalliance with a handsome Italian steward.
She raised him on her own in housing commission in Camperdown, inner-west Sydney and Mr Albanese never met his father, Carlo, until much later in his life.
Mr Albanese said his mother was brave for bringing him into the world.
‘She made the courageous decision in 1963 to keep a child she had out of wedlock,’ he said.
‘She chose, in order to – to deal with the pressures that were on a young Catholic woman at that time, in those circumstances, to take my father’s name, and I was raised being told that he had died.
‘I used to work at Maccas, one of the many jobs I had,’ Mr Albanese said
‘That’s a tough decision. It says something about the pressure that was placed on women.
‘And pressures that are still placed on women, when faced with difficult circumstances.
‘So, the fact that – that young kid is now running for prime minister, says a lot about her. And her courage.
‘But also says a lot about this country. About this country.’
Mr Albanese also talked up the fact he would be the first PM with an ethnic name and said he hopes his election would send a message about Australia’s diversity.
‘And I hope what that does is it sends a message for people of whatever background, including the fact that it is the first time that someone with a non-Anglo Celtic name has put themselves forward for prime minister,’ he said.
Mr Albanese believed his father had been killed in a car accident until he was about 15 when mother Maryanne revealed she had had fallen pregnant after a brief fling with an Italian steward she met on a voyage from Sydney to England.
Maryanne died in 2002 aged 65. ‘She was spent and compared with her life mine’s been an absolute dream,’ Mr Albanese previously told Daily Mail Australia.
