He descends from convicts and illegal arrivals.
And now he wants to be prime minister.
Bill Shorten gave radio listeners a glimpse into his ancestry on Friday.
"I need to make a declaration and I'm a bit surprised the Liberals haven't put it in one of their attack ads," he told ABC radio's Wendy Harmer.
"One of my ancestors was - wait for it - a convict."
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But mind you, it was the 1830s, he quickly clarified.
Another one jumped ship.
"So he was an illegal arrival," Mr Shorten said.
Once ashore he went hunting for gold but didn't find any.
"Thanks great uncle John," he joked.
The Labor leader shared his times growing up in the "daggy" Melbourne suburb of Murrumbeena, 18km from the city centre.
"It wasn't too rich and it wasn't too poor. It was nice."
Mr Shorten was taught by Jesuits - something he has in common with former prime minister Tony Abbott.
"I don't know if I was asleep in the lessons he might have been learning or he was asleep in some of the classes I think he should have been awake in," he said.
