How Jodi McKay went from TV newsreader to NSW Labor leader
From regional TV journalist to leader of the NSW Labor Party in just over a decade. Jodi McKay has now set her sights on becoming the state’s next Premier.
Freshly minted NSW Opposition leader Jodi McKay has declared the Metro West project should be the Coalition Government’s top infrastructure priority as she begins a charm offensive to win back the hearts and minds of migrant communities which abandoned Labor at this year’s state poll.
In her first major interview since being elected to lead the NSW Labor Party nearly a fortnight ago, Ms McKay rolled out her vision for western Sydney; fired a broadside at “hollow” Premier Gladys Berejiklian; and reflected on how a regional TV newsreader rose up the political ranks.
Moments before attending a multicultural event with the Tamil community in Wentworthville yesterday, the 49-year-old said the Metro West and Parramatta Light Rail Stage 2 projects were “critical” to the success of one of Australia’s fastest growing regions.
“We’ll prioritise Metro West over all others,” Ms McKay said. “The government is pursuing the Sydenham to Bankstown line conversion.
“That shouldn’t be the next stage (for Metro). It should be the Metro West. It is the number one project we need; all the infrastructure bodies say so, the business chamber knows it, the community organisations push it — yet the government has delayed it.
“We were able to get the start date moved to the mid-2020s — but it means it won’t be completed until the late 2020s. It’s a project which could be $20 billion — and again, there’s no firm cost by the government. All they’ve allocated is $6 billion, and that’s it.”
The Strathfield MP said Labor “want to see more investment in Parramatta” — but the government has “dropped the ball” with Metro West, which is stuck on the drawing board.
“(Treasurer) Dominic Perrottet has recently talked about the need for federal investment in infrastructure as a way of stimulating the economy. But (Transport Minister) Andrew Constance said last year he didn’t want Federal Government’s support,” Ms McKay said.
“Now they’ve got a massive $15 billion hole there for Metro West and they don’t know how to pay for it. And they are heading towards a $39 billion net debt in the forward estimates, over the next four years.
“They have committed to this project, but there’s no money, which is why I believe they are delaying stage two for Parramatta Light Rail.
“It is a travesty that Sydney Olympic Park, and its connection to Parramatta and the city, has been left till the very end of their infrastructure program.”
The Opposition leader is picking up the pieces from an election debacle in March, when bookies had Labor as slight favourite to win until a video surfaced in the dying days of the campaign where her predecessor, Michael Daley, was captured saying that Sydney jobs were being taken by Asian immigrants as young people were forced out.
“It was a bad last week,” Ms McKay, who visited migrant small business owners in Eastwood today, said. “We went to the last election and people didn’t trust us.
“We need to build faith again — and to give people a reason to vote for us.
“We didn’t do that well enough (in March) — and give (voters) a reason to ditch Gladys Berejiklian.
“My task is to give them every reason to do that. And the reasons are plentiful: the toll on the M4, the high cost of electricity, the lack of infrastructure in western Sydney, the delay on Metro West, and no action on the second stage of the Parramatta Light Rail.
“Every decision we’ll make will be about people. Our party will have a big tent with a big heart.”
CLAWS OUT
Jodi McKay pulled the claws out when asked for her assessment of Ms Berejiklian as Premier, despite some early hiccups of her own on the state’s key performance data.
“Gladys is transactional; she’s hollow. There’s a price on everything and a value on nothing,” the Ashfield resident said.
“The data can come out of her mouth but she has no idea what it actually means to someone.
“She’ll talk about the success of the privatisation of electricity, but she doesn’t understand that electricity prices have gone up by 60 per cent.
“She can talk about the money they reaped from the ports sale, but she doesn’t understand the handbrake they’ve put on Newcastle.
“She can talk about WestConnex, but the M4 toll is on a road that isn’t new. And it is unfairly impacting on people in western Sydney.
“And when the M4 East toll opens this week, if you’re heading from Penrith, Blacktown and Parramatta to the city, you’ll be paying close to $8. This means you’ll be paying $3500 each year if you’re regularly travelling on the M4 and M4 East.”
Ms McKay said Labor would not oppose the toll on the M4 East, “because that’s a new road”.
“But we will always oppose the toll on the M4. That should never, ever have been put on. It is an extra tax on people in western Sydney,” she said.
EARLY LIFE
Jodi Leyanne McKay grew up in Gloucester, a small town in the foothills of the Barrington Tops on the NSW Mid North Coast.
She says her family never had a lot of money, but that she had a happy childhood.
“I grew up in a town where it was safe and normal for you to ride your bike around the streets — and not come home and everything would still be OK,” Ms McKay, whose late father left school at the age of 12 to work in the dairy industry, said.
“Our values as a party are around compassion, inclusion and opportunity for all.
“And these were values instilled in me living in the country; you look after your neighbour, always work hard and be honest in everything you do.
“And they are the values I bring to this job.”
NEWSREADER TO POLLIE
Ms McKay left Gloucester after completing the Higher School Certificate to pursue a career in the media at Newcastle.
Her first job at the age of 18 was in the news library at NBN TV. Within 12 months she jagged a journalism cadetship and was soon reading the news.
In late December, 1989, at the age of 20, she brought the news of an earthquake in Newcastle, one of Australia’s worst natural disasters. It killed 13 people and injured more than 160.
“I still remember that; it was terrible — but everyone showed great resilience in the city,” Ms McKay recalled.
“I stayed at NBN for 15 years and then worked in the private sector and not-for-profit and helped build a medical research institute.”
She said the closure of BHP’s steelworks and a general lack of growth in the Hunter prompted her to seek a career in politics, before she became the Member for Newcastle in 2007 after then-Premier Morris Iemma intervened to ensure her preselection.
“Being a journalist, you’re inquisitive and you know what’s going on in your local area. And it came with regional TV, doing three or four stories a day,” Ms McKay said.
“For me, it was a sense of what wasn’t happening and wanting to do something about it.
“I just felt so strongly about the power of government and being a member of Parliament to make a positive change.”
Within 18 months of being elected, Ms McKay was promoted to Minister for Tourism and Minister for the Hunter by Premier at the time, Nathan Rees.
She lost her seat in 2011 after a dirty-tricks campaign against her.
That year she reported suspected illegal donations to the state’s corruption watchdog. She was interviewed by the Independent Commission Against Commission in 2014 over its probe into illegal donations on the Central Coast and in Newcastle, vowing not to return to politics.
However, she had a second coming at the 2015 State Election, winning the seat of Strathfield and became the Shadow Transport Minister.
Ms McKay was returned in the seat in March and nearly a fortnight ago became the new Labor leader, beating Kogarah MP Chris Minns in a caucus vote 29 to 21. She also sealed the deal by winning 63 per cent of the votes of 10,800 rank-and-file members.
BUILDING CONCERNS
Jodi McKay has called for urgent reforms to be made to the building industry to restore residents’ confidence following the debacles at the Opal and Mascot towers, along with this week’s revelation of evacuations at a Zetland apartment block about eight months ago.
“We need to be sure these buildings are actually built to the required standard,” Ms McKay said.
“I think the government has rushed through development in many areas across Sydney, including in Ryde where they put a priority precinct at Macquarie Park. And this is a very good example of where you’re seeing mass development occurring very, very quickly and the infrastructure not supporting it.
“Development is being pushed further away from the city — and that makes sense if you have local infrastructure that works: the schools, parks, playgrounds and local roads that get you from A to B without too much delay.
“Local roads need to actually work for local communities, and the government has missed on that.”
‘DON’T MENTION THIS BIRTHDAY’
Ms McKay has given a rare insight into her personal life as she revealed the “wonderful support” of her husband, Stephen Fenn.
Ms McKay showed photos of the meals Mr Fenn had prepared for her this week as her days are set to get even longer as party leader.
“He’s amazing,” Ms McKay. “I don’t get a lot of spare time so this is so wonderful.”
The pair married a decade ago after Mr Fenn popped the question to mark Ms McKay’s 40th birthday while they on a holiday in France.
Classical music lover Mr Fenn has a teenage daughter from a previous relationship and Ms McKay, like her political counterpart Ms Berejiklian, does not have any children of her own.
A footy lover and big fan of US political drama series The West Wing, Ms McKay will turn 50 next month. But, much like a Fawlty Towers “don’t mention the war” skit, it’s not something the Opposition leader wants to talk about.
“I said to my husband if he organises anything, tells anyone — which you’ve now told the world — that there’ll be great trouble,” she said with a laugh, “so I’m just going to hope that I skate through without anyone noticing.”
There’s little chance of that happening now as Ms McKay prepares to build bridges within her own party and show she’s capable of becoming the state’s next Premier.
“I think that people do realise our party has changed and we’ll show we’re a party ready for government,” she said.
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