He beat Kevin Rudd: who is Albert Tse? Oh the Asian vote .......

[Kiwi]

Albert Tse was the only person to defeat Kevin Rudd on election night, and he did it in Rudd's own hometown of Brisbane.

But little is known about Prime Minister's son-in-law, who has recently found himself at some of the highest government occasions.

On election night, standing behind Mr Rudd on the Suncorp Stadium victory podium, Mr Tse gained a rare first-hand view of how a leader feels addressing his followers after leading them to the ultimate triumph.

A week later at Government House, Mr Tse - Mr Rudd's son-in-law - was present again, this time casting an eye over the swearing in of the 26th Prime Minister of Australia.

But, mysteriously, people seem less interested in the local boy who had just been made PM than they were in Albert Tse.

On the election weekend, "Albert Tse" was the most highly searched term on brisbanetimes.com.au, even ahead of "Kevin Rudd", the winner on the night.

He was also the fourth highest searched term on The Age's website, ahead of John Howard, and 10th on smh.com.au.

So, given the curiosity, who is Albert Tse?

Mr Tse, of course, is married to Mr Rudd's daughter, Jessica.

The couple were together for six years before their nuptials at East Brisbane's Anglican Church Grammar School in May this year.

But little else is known about the Hong Kong immigrant.

smh.com.au tried to contact him, but was informed that, since Mr Tse's father-in-law having been made Prime Minister, all interview requests would need to be cleared by the Prime Minister's department.

A spokeswoman for Mr Rudd said it would be "a little while" before an interview could be arranged as everyone associated with the new Government had been busy since the election.

What is known is that Mr Tse, 28, was born in Hong Kong and arrived in Australia in 1989.

Newspaper reports prior to his marriage into the Rudd family described him as a solicitor and a banker who once worked at BankWest.

Until June, he and his wife were also on the board of the Rein Foundation, a charity established by Mr Rudd's wife, Therese Rein, to sponsor organisations that offer employment and training to people who have long been without work.

However, like his father-in-law, Mr Tse appears to have a healthy interest in politics as well.

In 2000, he posted the following messages to the website forum of an ABC TV program :

"I am the president of the QUT [Queensland University of Technology] Labor Club, and very much involved in politics in Brisbane. I was born in Hong Kong, and has been living here for over 10 years now.

"As an [sic] Young Asian, I don't need anyone's tolerance. I demand their acceptance. That is why I am involved with the whole political process."

Mr Tse is also an old boy of Anglican Church Grammar School, or "Churchie".

Fellow ex-Churchie David Grogan, who manages the school's alumni, described Tse as such a "good bloke" he wasn't too put out by a school rugby game that interrupted the occasion of his wedding at the school in May.

While Mr Rudd and Ms Rein are now re-assessing their living arrangements after the election victory, Albert Tse and Jessica Rudd once lived on the same street as Mr Rudd and Ms Rein in the Brisbane suburb of Norman Park.

The website interest in Mr Tse immediately after the election hints at a cult following.

The Sing Tao Daily, Hong Kong's second largest Chinese language newspaper, reportedly ran the news of his wedding into the Rudd family on its front page.

And a question on Yahoo! Answers, the knowledge-sharing website run by the popular search engine, asks: "How can I contact Mr Rudd's son-in-law,what a hotty!!!!"

http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/hes-only-man-to-defeat-rudd-on-election-night/2007/12/07/1196813009799.html