NSW Labor leader Chris Minns on his wife, family, election promises ahead of the state election

They met at a Labor campaign held at a Pizza Hut in Sydney’s south in 1999. 24 years later, they’re juggling three kids, two jobs and a busy campaign trail.

Chris Minns is in the fight of his life. With only four weeks until the state election, the Labor Leader is racing to get his policies, his party, and his name noticed by the people of NSW.

19-hour work days are the norm, amid a schedule of policy launches, meet and greets and community events. And it’s all done under intense media scrutiny, a heat that can burn without warning.

While Mr Minns is pounding the pavement in a bid to be the state’s next Premier, his wife Anna, is the unseen force driving him to the finish line.

“We’re a team,” says Mr Minns, speaking to NCA NewsWire.

“She does a lot for me and for us. I really rely on her. I really love her.”

It’s been 24 years since they first met at a local Labor campaign held in a south Sydney Pizza Hut.

Born and bred in the area, Mr Minns has held the seat of Kogarah since 2015, with the suburb also the backdrop to the couple’s private life.

Speaking about his wife, his voice slows just a touch and he appears more reflective.

“I think we’re getting close to being together longer for more time than we’ve been apart in our lives. So we’ve kind of grown up together,” he says.

Chris Minns and Anna Minns met a Pizza Hut in 1999. Picture: Supplied/ NCA NewsWire.

Sometimes worlds collide too, like on Valentine’s Day when Mr Minns’ team orchestrated a coffee date at a local cafe, inviting media along for the ride as well.

“On the campaign trail but you got to make time for Valentine’s Day, we got to see each other this morning,” a laughing Mr Minns told Sky News.

“Although when I said: ‘Happy Valentine’s Day,’ she said: ‘I need to go get something to eat,’ so that’s true love.”

Such sacrifices must be made when your other-half is gunning for the top spot in NSW politics but there are still opportunities to keep your husband humble.

Like all working families, they manage the best they can. Mr Minns describes one day on the campaign trail where his team launched their energy policy in Nowra on NSW’s South Coast in the morning, before making the two-hour drive back to Sydney. In between the announcement and an evening function, he was able to get a surf in with his three sons, Joe, Nick and George.

“You just try and get really good at scheduling. Get up early in the morning, get up at five and squeeze a few extra hours in at the beginning and the end,” he says.

“I don’t know what she will do when this is all done, but if I can be there for her (career), I definitely will.”

The NSW Opposition Leader and his two sons at Cronulla Beach. Picture: Supplied/ NCA NewsWire.

The couple and their three sons on election day in 2019. Picture: Supplied/ NCA NewsWire.

While her husband strives in politics, Mrs Minns has a flourishing professional life of her own.

A former criminal prosecutor for the Department of Public Prosecutions, the mother-of-three now works in the sustainability and environmental space.

In 2012 Ms Minns bought major US-based recycling company, TerraCycle to Australia and New Zealand, which lets consumers recycle things like soft plastics, face masks, and cosmetics that would otherwise end up in landfill. She’s since co-founded and is the CEO of consultancy firm, Boomerang Labs which describes itself as Australia’s first Circular Economy Accelerator, with partners including Big Four consultancy group, Ernst & Young.

Chris Minns and Anna Minns after he was announced as the new NSW Labor leader in 2021. Picture: NCA NewsWire/ Nikki Short

When it comes to his policies, Mr Minns prides education as a top priority if Labor were to win government on March 25. To date they’ve campaigned on a raft of policies to increase permanent teachers, cut down admin hours for staff, ban mobile phones in public high schools and allow public schools to run the International Baccalaureate program.

Mr Minns, the son of a public school principal, admits his big emphasis of education can lean a bit “soapy”.

“Education is one of the leading reasons why you can do anything in this country. If you’ve got the motivation and discipline to go and study, any jobs available to you,” he says.

“Not many countries in the world can claim that and not many Western countries have that wonderful upward economic mobility.”

“Educational outcomes have been worse today than they were when the government was elected, so we need to get it back up to parity and then climb from there.”

Chris Minns with Deputy Opposition leader and Labor spokesperson for education, Prue Car. Picture: NewsWire/ Monique Harmer

Toll roads are another passionate talking point for Mr Minns. The issue marries his opposition to privatisation (the majority of Sydney’s toll roads are owned by Transurban) and emphasis on bringing down the cost-of-living for households.

Labor has promised a $60 weekly toll cap for regular users, plus an overhaul of the toll network led by the former ACCC Chairman, Professor Allan Fels. This would be on top of existing toll relief, in which drivers who spend more than $375 on tolls in one financial year can claim a 40 per cent rebate, up to $750.

“The M5 East had been free for 20 years and didn’t cost you anything and then for a truck driver it all of a sudden went to $23 each way, and it went for over $7 for cars, each way,” he says.

“We’ve got a privately owned toll road monopoly on the most tolled city on earth and it’s gone too far. It’s a big tax of people’s back pocket.”

The majority of Sydney’s toll roads are owned by Transurban. Picture: NCA NewsWire/ Gaye Gerard

While the polls point to a potential but noncommittal Labor victory – the most recent polling from Roy Morgan declared the election was still “up for grabs” – one of the biggest challenges facing Mr Minns is the real threat of losing his seat of Kogarah, which sits on a slim margin of 0.1 per cent.

Is he worried? Yes – “everything worries me,” he jokes – but he says Labor “can’t win government without winning Kogarah”.

It’s also not a loss he’s willing to stymie, whatever the consequences.

“That’s my community. I grew up there, I went to school there, my kids go to the same school that I went to, and we live in downtown Kogarah,” he says.

“There’s no way I would swap seats or move to a safer seat or another district. I would rather not be in parliament, than not be the member for Kogarah.”

Originally published as NSW Labor leader Chris Minns on his wife, family, election promises ahead of the state election