Michael Daley voted in as NSW Labor leader after Foley resigned
MICHAEL Daley has become the new leader of the NSW Labor Party after easily defeating rival Chris Minns in a party room ballot by 33-12 votes. He says he believes his party has a fighting chance to win the next election.
MICHAEL Daley has become the new leader of the NSW Labor Party after easily defeating rival Chris Minns in a party room ballot, with 33-12 votes.
The former corporate lawyer turned State Opposition planning spokesman attracted crossbench support to take over the role vacated by disgraced Auburn MP Luke Foley, who resigned after being accused of putting his hand inside an ABC journalist Ashleigh Raper’s underpants at a 2016 Christmas party.
Penny Sharpe was voted unopposed as the deputy leader of the party.
Before the vote, Mr Minns conceded he was a rank outsider but disputed suggestions his leadership aspirations had exacerbated disunity within the ranks of the reeling party.
“It seems pretty unlikely (I have the numbers) but this is about putting our ideas out there and charting a path for the party and the state. It’s been a good process for that purpose,” Mr Minns said.
“(Michael Daley) will have my support. He’s a decent man, he’s going to do a good job, and I’m convinced he will be the Premier of NSW.”
Following the vote, the Kogarah MP said: “I’m a realist. It’s a great day for Michael and I know he’s going to be the next Premier of NSW — I’m convinced of that and I’m genuinely looking forward to being part of his team.”
When asked if he had done better than he thought he would, Mr Minns said: “I don’t know — who knows?”
Twenty minutes after the parliamentary party marched into the voting room, caucus returning officer Daniel Mookhey emerged to call the vote in Mr Daley’s favour.
Some of Mr Foley’s most loyal left-wing supporters voted for the right-wing Maroubra MP, who has his work cut out to win back disaffected voters ahead of the March state election.
Mr Minns, who is Opposition water spokesman, has long been a leadership aspirant, but the Kogarah MP’s rocky relationship with senior players in the dominant Right faction had impeded his career.
Mr Daley said his party still had a fighting chance in the March state election, despite losing former leader Mr Foley.
“We are here to win the 2019 state election, which is what we will do for the people who rely so heavily on us,” Mr Daley said after being appointed.
Mr Daley styled himself as a working-class boy come good through hard word and a good education and accused the Berejiklian government of being “bankers working for bankers”.
The new leader said he would “press the reset button” on policies, but wouldn’t make “wholesale changes” to his cabinet.
His priorities will be increasing spending on schools, hospitals and TAFE, as well as cutting road tolls and restricting housing development.
Newly minted deputy leader Penny Sharpe declared climate change her main priority.
“We need clean air, clean water and we need to care for land we live on,” she said.
“The government is too scared to say no to land clearing and will not take action on climate change.”
When asked how he’d control the 12 Labor parliamentarians who voted against him, Mr Daley promised not to punish those who would have preferred Chris Minns to lead the Labor Party and said Mr Minns would remain a shadow minister.
“There’s no room for vengeance in this game, votes and ballots are a healthy thing,” he said.
“I won, I’m the leader, and I’ll treat all of my colleagues with the greatest of respect.”
The new Labor leader teed off on Premier Gladys Berejiklian over her handling of Liberal MP David Elliott, who raised the issue of Mr Foley’s alleged harassment of an ABC journalist in parliament, which ignited speculation and rumour that culminated in the leadership
spill.
“There are only two possibilities when it comes to the completely disrespectful and unacceptable behaviour of David Elliott,” he said.
“One is that Gladys Berejiklian cannot control her ministers.
“But there’s another theory and that is it’s all just a ruse and David Elliott’s tactics were run through (Ms Berejiklian’s) office and her chief of staff and her staff knew about them, ticked them off, approved them, and that means she did too.”
Mr Daley suggested Ms Berejiklian’s inability to come down hard on Mr Elliott was akin to her reluctance to discipline former Wagga Wagga MP Daryl Maguire when he was caught up in a corruption scandal in July.
Mr Elliott today issued a fresh statement today about his involvement in outing Ms Raper as the ABC journalist allegedly harassed by Mr Foley.
“I am deeply sorry for the hurt my comments have caused Ms Raper,” Mr Elliott said today.
“It was completely unintentional. I have every intention of respecting Ms Raper’s wishes and letting her get on with her life and will be making no further comments.”
* Additional reporting by Miranda Wood
Cops gather as city holds its breath amid Oct 7 vigils
There’s a massive police presence across Sydney as evening gatherings on the grim anniversary of Hamas attacks get under way. At Lakemba Mosque, hundreds have massed as a police chopper flies overhead.
‘So, so devastating’: Mainstay deli shuts after 70 years
The closure of an iconic southwest Sydney deli has prompted its legion of customers to express how the institution – treasured like the Opera House – meant more than prosciutto and panini.