PM urges regrowth, reform for NSW Labor

JULIA Gillard has urged NSW Labor to learn from its recent election defeat and take on reforms to improve its candidate selection process.

John Robertson

PRIME Minister Julia Gillard has urged NSW Labor to learn from its recent election defeat and take on reforms to improve its candidate selection process.

 Her call came as NSW Opposition Leader John Robertson gave a brutal and frank assessment of the party's plight after its crushing defeat at the March 26 state election.

“We lost because in the end we ceased to be a Labor government,” Mr Robertson told more than 600 delegates at Sydney's Town Hall.

“We made announcements for the media's sake, not the people's sake.

“As a result, in four years we went from the brink of being one of the most successful centre left parties in the world to the brink of minor party status.”

After the poll Labor, which had been in government for 16 years, was left with just 20 lower house seats against the Liberal/National coalition's 69 seats.

Mr Robertson said he had been “horrified” at the number of times the Labor government had let down the people of NSW.

“We have to understand and be candid about what happened so that those of us in this room, the custodians of the NSW branch of the Australian Labor Party, can ensure it never happens again,” the former union leader said.

Former premier Nathan Rees said the party risked never winning power again unless it could show it had learned from its mistakes in government.

“Until the community understands we are seriously chastened by the result in March ... and we ensure the bad practices of the past are fixed, they won't consider a way forward for us,” he said.

Frontbench MP Steve Whan said the road ahead would be tough.

“What he said, quite rightly, to everyone in this room is that we're all in it together to win back the trust of everyone in NSW,” Mr Whan told AAP after Mr Robertson's keynote speech.

“It's a tough job, but it's a job we've got to do.”

 Ms Gillard received a standing ovation as she entered the conference hall on Saturday.

“Gathering here today we understand reform begins by understanding what happened in March - a defeat as bad as we've ever known,” the prime minister said.

“NSW Labor cannot and should not ever be the same again.

“Let's not imagine we can just move on, that would only be denying the judgment of the people.

“Rather let's absorb the lessons and learn what it means to be Labor once again.”

The two-day conference will examine how the state party can renew itself and reconnect with the community.

It will also examine its candidate selection process.

Ms Gillard said the party needs more members representing a wide cross-section of society and who are more engaged with their local communities.

“This is about ensuring that Labor remains a party which reflects and represents the aspirations of the Australian people,” she said.

But she also told delegates that Labor had done a lot of good in government.

“The best ever Olympics, great school literacy results, historic environmental achievements like saving the southeast forests, the remarkable victory over James Hardie, and so much more,” she said.

“Be proud of these achievements.”

 Most of the state's current Labor MPs were present at the conference, apart from former premier Kristina Keneally who is understood to be on holiday.

The delegates included former premiers Neville Wran and Bob Carr.

AAP