Why Labor leader Chris Minns would be better premier than Perrottet, according to wife Anna

Businesswoman Anna Minns knows there’s a ‘dark side’ to political life, but she’s unwavering in her support of husband Chris’s quest to be NSW premier.

It was outside a Pizza Hut when a teenage Anna Minns first met her future husband, Chris.

The young rugby player was cute, “very cute”. Cocky? “I don’t like that word,” she says. “Confident”.

But it would be another 18 months before a sneaky kiss in a car sealed the deal for the young Labor supporters. The delay was due to a problematic boyfriend – problematic to Chris who knew Anna was “the one” on their first meeting, but who had to bide his time.

The pair, who were helping out in the then marginal seat of Georges River on the 1999 state election campaign when they were introduced by local Labor MP Tony Burke, immediately found they shared similar values, including a strong sense of social justice drawn from having grown up in large, Irish Catholic families. The couple also discovered their mothers ran social justice groups at their respective Catholic churches.

Both were ambitious, although Ms Minns said it was always Chris – nicknamed “soup and salad” for his health conscious diet – who wanted to be a political leader.

Anna Minns with kids Joe (14), George (5) and Nick (12) in Kogarah. Anna and Chris met as teens – and their shared values of family and social justice brought them together. Picture: Damian Shaw

“Chris is the most determined person I’ve ever known,” Ms Minns told The Sunday Telegraph, ahead of introducing her husband to the party faithful at the NSW Labor State Conference on Sunday.

“We both were very active in Labor – we spent our weekends driving around NSW, doorknocking for candidates and selling coffees and raffle tickets.

“I convinced him to join Young Labor, where he quickly became the president. He went to work for the party office and got really involved. His ambition has always been politics.”

The couple quickly married and had children, with their relationship surviving despite Mr Minns’ terrible cooking.

“Chris was tasked with running the campaign for the federal seat of Cowper in 2001, and he moved up to Coffs Harbour for six months,” she said.

“When I went to visit I asked what he was doing for food, he said he had it all covered. He opened the kitchen cupboards and proudly said he had it all – Weetbix, Just Right, Nutri Grain and Special K.”

Family man Chris Minns pictured at home with wife Anna and the kids. The relationship has survived despite Chris’ terrible cooking! Picture: Sam Ruttyn

While his cooking has improved, Ms Minns said her husband still insisted on eating a bowl of cereal every night after dinner – no matter how big the meal he had.

“He is always saying to me, ‘why don’t we have cereal?’ ” she said.

“I don’t eat cereal, but he had to have a bowl after dinner. Even our boys have taken to it. He has always been health conscious – we used to call him ‘soup and salad’, and he gets up at 5am every morning and does a workout or goes for a run.”

Asked if she was ready to become a member of the “first wives club” should her husband win government in March, Ms Minns said she had already a taste of what was to come.

Not only were there the long hours and weekends working, she said he had also experienced the darker side of having a high-profile husband.

“You hear things,” she said of unfounded rumours that have been repeated to her.

“He has been the target of many people for a long time. But you build up your resilience to those kinds of attacks. I’ve heard it all. I probably should not say that. But I know his character and I know what a good person he is, so it really doesn’t bother me that much.”

Anna Minns knows there’s a dark side to having a high-profile partner. Picture: Sam Ruttyn

However, Ms Minns said there was a positive side of being a politician’s partner – the support network offered by other partners.

“You know who I like? (Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s partner) Jodie Haydon. I think she is fantastic. We are the same age. She is so down to earth and fun,” she said. “Every time I’ve met any wife or husband of a pollie, they all say. ‘we know what it’s like and any time you want to talk, let us know’.

“I’ve met Blanche (d’Alpuget, widow of former PM Bob Hawke), Lucy Brogden (wife of former premier John Brogden), the partners of all state MPs. There is a ‘partnerhood’ definitely.”

PM Anthony Albanese and his partner Jodie Haydon. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Martin Ollman

Bob Hawke and wife Blanche d'Alpuget. Picture: Megan Slade

A former criminal prosecutor for the Department of Public Prosecutions, Ms Minns is busy with her own career growing environmentally sustainable businesses as well as co-parenting their three sons Joe, Nick and George, but she also retains an active interest in the party and says she is constantly in her husband’s ear.

“I studied political science at uni and worked for the union movement and on state and federal campaigns – all unpaid,” she said.

“I never had ambitions to be a politician as such. But we are a Labor family. When Joe was five, he asked when he could join. And when Chris first ran for parliament, Nick came along.

“He was only four and it took a long time doorknocking because he was going through a Scooby-Doo phase and insisted on joining his dad in his Scooby-Doo costume and putting each leaflet in the letterbox with his mouth like a dog. It’s gotten quicker since.”

Ms Minns also has strong views on the current state government.

“I feel passionately about all issues,” she said.

“Regeneration, biodiversity. This current government – with (Treasurer Matt) Kean – has the worst record of land clearing. The koalas are becoming extinct. I feel strongly about trees, designing and using resources better. Better collecting organic waste.

“I also feel strongly about transport, bike riding.

“I do have strong views. Chris knows this.”

Then leadership hopeful Chris Minns helps sons George (left) and Nick as they play after a press conference in 2019. Picture: AAP Image/David Gray

As for what her husband over Premier Dominic Perrottet, Ms Minns simply states: “Better ideas.”

“He has a better vision for the state,” she said.

“I also don’t believe in these crazy amounts of privatisation, selling off TAFES. There are skills shortages, teacher shortages.

“He also has a strong moral compass.”

Ms Minns, who will focus her efforts on campaigning in her husband’s marginal seat of Kogarah, said she believed the election would be fought on cost of living, including toll roads, privatisation, the environment and “liveability”.

“The liveability and our night-time economy has changed. Sydney has become a dull place, an expensive place to live. There is so much congestions. It has become less liveable,” she said. “It won’t be easy to fix, but I don’t know anyone more determined than Chris. He won’t rest until a problem is resolved.”

Originally published as Why Labor leader Chris Minns would be better premier than Perrottet, according to wife Anna