NSW Labor to vote on new leader after federal election
Michael Daley has stood down as NSW Opposition Leader until after the upcoming federal election, naming deputy Penny Sharpe as the interim leader until then. Mr Daley said stepping down was the “right and proper thing”.
Michael Daley has stood down as NSW Opposition Leader until after the upcoming federal election.
Mr Daley’s former deputy, Penny Sharpe, has been named be the interim leader.
“This is the right and proper thing to do. It is in keeping with the spirit of the State Labor Party’s Caucus rules requiring a rank and file election of the Leader,” Mr Daley said.
“To do otherwise would be an unnecessary distraction from the task of electing a Shorten Labor Government in a few weeks’ time.”
“I will be contesting the leadership when nominations are called for that position.”
Mr Daley has refused to take responsibility for the party’s election loss on Saturday and said he was taking the unprecedented move of stepping aside from the leadership so that he was not a distraction to Bill Shorten’s campaign to be prime minister.
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“I inherited leadership at the time our party was in pieces … I take responsibility for my fair share for what happened in the election. There are a lot of factors in the election, that’s what I said. I was handed a party that was in quiet some difficulty back in November, it was quiet unusual and it was in quiet some difficulty, I’ve picked it up, I’ve calmed things down, I’ve prosecuted the case very strongly and for the overwhelming majority of the campaign we were doing very, very well,” he said.
“So yes I will shoulder my fair share of the responsibility but it’s not all of me. There is a great many other factors in election campaigns and what I won’t be is someone who takes the blame for all of this. I made some mistakes, yes, the Premier made some mistake as well. Mine just happen to receive a great deal more reporting than other mistakes that were made. There were mistakes, I’m not going to shoulder all responsibility for what happened on Saturday night.”
Mr Daley said he was standing aside so tensions over his leadership role didn’t distract from the federal Labor campaign and because it wouldn’t have been “fair” for him to remain in power for the next eight weeks until the ballot for party leadership is held.
Labor Party rules dictate that an interim leader cannot nominate for the leadership of the party but this means Mr Daley could have remained as leader.
“One of the reasons I’m standing down (is because) … I don’t want to be a distraction,” he said.
Mr Daley said he hadn’t spoken to his colleague Chris Minns who is expected to challenge him for the leadership.
He would not confirm whether he would quit his seat of Maroubra if he did not win the ballot.
“Don’t ask me to crystal ball that,” he said.
He was again forced to address issues around comments he made about Asian migrants which surfaced in the final week of the campaign and are believed to have contributed to Labor’s loss.
“The people who know me know I’m not a racist and I’m a progressive person,” he said.
Upper House MP Penny Sharpe has installed as interim leader but this means the lower house will have no Labor leader when parliament resumes.
“This is unprecedented we accept that, this is uncharted waters in terms of all the ifs and buts and hypotheticals that are going to happen. But I think we are up for mature debate. The Labor Party has a serious process about choosing our leader and we’re taking it seriously. What Michael’s done today is really important, he’s actually stepped aside so that process can take place free from distractions,” she said.
Ms Sharpe will campaign next to Mr Shorten on the campaign trail.
She would not confirm that Mr Daley would have her support during the ballot vote.
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