Labor leader Anthony Albanese has said his being able to become the first non-Anglo-Celtic prime minister in Australian history sends a clear message that “you can achieve anything in this country”.

The Sydney Morning Herald and age Albanese asked Thursday if he had thought about what it would mean for Australia’s multicultural communities to have an Italian-Australian as prime minister and the first Muslim member of a federal cabinet in Ed Husic.

“I absolutely [thought about it]. And I’m encouraged by the response I have [had]especially from the Italian community,” Albanese said, adding that he would be at the Marconi Club in Sydney’s west next Wednesday.

“There are members of the Italian community telling me they are going to vote for the first time in their lives because they want an Australia that reflects modern Australia.”

There are approximately 1 million Australians of Italian descent and approximately 1 million Australians of Muslim faith.

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Albanese often talks about growing up in public housing in Sydney’s city center with her mother, Maryanne. He grew up believing his father died shortly after meeting his mother on a cruise in Europe, but later discovered that Carlo Albanese was alive and living in Italy. Out of respect for his mother, he didn’t reunite with Carlo until after her death, but was later welcomed into his father’s life and discovered he had a half-brother and half-sister, according to biographer Karen Middleton.

“Modern Australia is made up of people called Husic and Albanese. But it’s also made up of people like [Senator Murray] watts and [Labor candidate] Mast [Burnett],” Albanese said Thursday.

“We are a diverse country, and the fact that I have a non-Anglo-Celtic name, as does our leader of the Senate [Penny Wong] Also, I think it sends a message out there to hopefully multicultural Australia that you can achieve anything in this country.