Anne Twomey, a professor of constitutional law at the University of Sydney, said the prime minister’s decision was prudent.
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“If I were the PM, I wouldn’t be accepting any honorary citizenship of any country either,” Twomey said.
“I don’t know exactly what ‘honorary’ citizenship entails, and perhaps it is nothing, but given that one also doesn’t know how far the High Court would interpret section 44 of the Constitution, it would be prudent to avoid any dispute over this … it’s better to be safe than sorry.”
The issue of dual allegiance has previously brought turmoil to federal politics. In 2017, more than a dozen MPs and senators were disqualified or forced to resign under Section 44 during Australia’s dual citizenship crisis — many of them unaware they were considered citizens of another country by descent or operation of law.
The prime minister’s personal story has long captivated both Australians and Italians. Raised by his mother, Maryanne Ellery, in Sydney’s inner west, Albanese grew up believing his father had died in a car accident — a story his mother told to protect him. In reality, she had met Carlo, a steward on an Italian cruise ship, during a voyage in 1962. Their romance ended when the ship docked in Southampton, and Carlo returned to Italy, where he later married another woman.
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Albanese did not learn the truth until he was 14. Years later, after his mother’s death and while already in public office, he began tracing his father’s identity through shipping records. He met Carlo for the first time in 2009 in Barletta, and visited again in 2013.
Carlo Albanese died in 2014, but two of Anthony Albanese’s half-siblings, Ruggero and Francesca, still live in Barletta. The town has closely followed his political rise and considers him one of its own.
In 2022, city officials marked his election victory by sending Albanese a statuette of Ettore Fieramosca – a 16th-century knight and hero of Barletta – as a symbol of the city’s esteem and a gesture of cultural connection.
Although Albanese has previously confirmed he has never held Italian citizenship, scrutiny around eligibility remains acute. By declining the honorary citizenship, he avoids a potential legal ambiguity that could become politically or constitutionally disruptive.
But the honorary citizenship offer remains open, with officials hopeful that Albanese may accept it in the future – perhaps once he is no longer bound by parliamentary office.
“We want to celebrate him as he deserves,” Oronzo Cilli, Barletta’s culture councillor, said. “Barletta recognises itself in the values of dignity, work and tenacity that Anthony’s life embodies.”
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