NSW ALP boss Bob Nanva’s bid to parachute himself into upper house seat fails

A last-minute, against-the-rules bid by NSW ALP boss Bob Nanva for upper house preselection has been thwarted, with Labor leader Chris Minns refusing to support it.

NSW Labor General Secretary Bob Nanva considered making an extraordinary bid to parachute himself into parliament next year, in a move that would have required sweeping party reforms to be thrown out the window.

The Daily Telegraph can reveal that Mr Nanva thought about running for upper house preselection and wanted to waive party rules banning general secretaries from seeking political office for five years, but was unsuccessful.

The rule was adopted as part of sweeping party reforms in 2019.

Multiple sources said that Mr Nanva asked Labor leader Chris Minns for his support in getting the rule waived, but Mr Minns declined.

One Labor source said Mr Nanva’s bid to be installed on the Upper House ticket was “embarrassing” and “foolish”.

NSW Labor General Secretary Bob Nanva would have had to bypass party rules to nominate for the upper house seat.

Another said that wanting to move to the upper house damaged Mr Nanva’s credibility and authority as General Secretary — particularly because the Labor leader refused to support the bid.

Mr Nanva’s bid for the upper house “failed at the first hurdle,” they said.

Labor leader Chris Minns.

The rule stopping general secretaries from running for elected office within five years was recommended by an independent review of Labor rules by former Attorney-General Michael Lavarch conducted amid an Independent Commission Against Corruption investigation.

In his review, Mr Lavarch said that the general secretary role should not be seen as a “stepping stone” to “quick parliamentary office”.

“Accordingly, there should be a party rule making the secretaries ineligible for party nomination or endorsement for a parliamentary office within the length of first term of office (five years),” the review said.

While the rule was adopted, sources said that it could be changed or waived by Labor’s powerful national executive.

Mr Nanva’s last-minute bid for preselection came just days out from the deadline for nominations, sources said.

He was appointed as general secretary in 2019, meaning that under the current rules he would be ineligible for being preselected for next year’s March election.

Mr Nanva did not respond to requests for comment. Mr Minns declined to comment.

Labor’s right faction met on Thursday night to dump sitting MPs Adam Searle and Shaoquett Moselmane from the party’s upper house ticket.

The right faction has preselected Cessnock nurse Emily Suvaal, barrister Stephen Lawrence and Canterbury-Bankstown Mayor Khal Asfour to replace Mr Searle, Mr Moselmane, and retiring MP Walt Secord.

The upper house ticket will be rubber-stamped at Labor’s State Conference next month.

Meanwhile, a stoush over Labor preselections in southwest Sydney is all but over.

Emergency Services spokesman Jihad Dib is expected to be moved to Bankstown after his seat of Lakemba was abolished in an electorate redistribution.

Frontbencher Tania Mihailuk, who was accused of bullying staff, which she denies, has been offered the seat of Fairfield, but has not yet accepted.

Fairfield MP Guy Zangari is expected to move to Cabramatta, where longstanding local MP Nick Lalich is set to retire.