2021 Australian Labor Party (New South Wales Branch) leadership election

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

2021 Australian Labor Party (New South Wales Branch) leadership election
ALP logo 2017.svg
← 2019 4 June 2021
  Chris Minns MP.png
Candidate Chris Minns
Result Unopposed
Leader before election

Jodi McKay

 Elected Leader

Chris Minns

An election for the leadership of the New South Wales branch of the Australian Labor Party was held in June 2021., triggered by the resignation of Leader Jodi McKay on 28 May 2021.[1]

Nominations for the leadership opened at 11:00 AEST on 4 June 2021.[2] Each candidate would have had 48 hours to produce at least 15 signatures from caucus members to nominate. With Chris Minns as the only candidate to nominate for the leadership, he was elected unopposed as the new party leader.[3] Prue Car was elected unopposed as deputy party leader four days later.[4]

Background[]

Following Labor's loss in the 2021 Upper Hunter by-election, then-leader Jodi McKay resigned under pressure from the party caucus.[1] Initially the leadership election saw former opposition leader Michael Daley, who led Labor to a defeat in the 2019 New South Wales state election declare his candidacy for a second time on 30 May 2021. Chris Minns would subsequently announce his candidacy for a third time the next day, having lost to Daley and McKay in previous ballots. On 4 June 2021, on the date nominations opened, Daley announced his withdrawal from the election citing the lack of support and "for the good of the party".[3] The leadership election represents the fifth time that Labor has changed its leadership since the defeat in the 2011 election with only two leaders having led the party to an election as of 2021.

Candidates[]

Under party rules, if there were more than one candidate, the election would be a combined vote by the party membership and the Labor members of the Parliament of New South Wales, with each component weighted equally.[2] As there was only one candidate (Chris Minns) nominated for leadership, Minns was elected unopposed.

Declared[]

List of Chris Minns endorsements
Members of the New South Wales Parliament
State Officials and Members of Parliament
Local Government Officials
Other Figures
Media Organisations and Newspapers

Withdrew[]

List of Michael Daley endorsements
Members of the New South Wales Parliament
Other Figures

Declined[]

Controversies[]

Daley[]

On 31 May 2021, a number of Asian Australian members and elected officials of NSW Labor released a joint statement criticising Michael Daley's candidacy citing comments made in 2018 about how residents in New South Wales were "being replaced by young people from typically Asia with PhDs."[30][31] While Daley apologised about the comments prior to the 2019 state election, many have attributed the swing against the ALP in electorates in the Georges River local government area in the 2019 election owing to Daley's comments. The Georges River local government area sees over 22.8% of residents having Chinese ancestry according to the 2016 census and includes the electorates of Kogarah and Oatley. Both electorates saw a heavy swing against the ALP in 2019 with Oatley seeing a swing towards the Liberal Party of Australia from 6.6% in 2015 to 10.3% in 2019 while Kogarah, held by prospective leadership candidate Chris Minns went from 6.9% to less than 2% in the same election.[32][33][34][35] On 1 June 2021, Daley apologised again on ABC Radio for his "offensive" comments.[36]

Minns[]

A report by The Daily Telegraph on 31 May reported that the head office of NSW Labor was "encouraging" members of the caucus to support Minns' candidacy for the leadership to avoid a contested ballot.[37] In addition, another report by The Daily Telegraph also stated that Shadow Minister for Health Ryan Park decided not to contest the leadership to ensure a quick succession of leadership.[38] The 2019 leadership election which saw outgoing leader Jodi McKay defeating Minns went for 22 days to finalise a result.

See also[]

References[]

  1. ^ a b Raper, Ashleigh; Bavas, Josh (28 May 2021). "Jodi McKay steps down as NSW Opposition Leader after Labor crisis meeting". Retrieved 28 May 2021.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  2. ^ a b c d "Senior Labor MPs publicly endorse Chris Minns to end bruising ballot battle". Sydney Morning Herald. 2 June 2021. Retrieved 2 June 2021.
  3. ^ a b c Raper, Ashleigh (4 June 2021). "Kogarah MP Chris Minns to be NSW Opposition Leader after Michael Daley pulls out". Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Sydney, New South Wales. Retrieved 31 May 2021.
  4. ^ "Londonderry MP Prue Car elected Deputy Leader of NSW Labor". Western Weekender. 8 June 2021. Retrieved 8 June 2021.
  5. ^ "Chris Minns officially enters NSW Labor leadership battle". Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Sydney, New South Wales. 31 May 2021. Retrieved 31 May 2021.
  6. ^ @pruecar (2 June 2021). "After ten years of this Government, hardworking families are spending more time in traffic, paying more tolls and spending less time with their families. @MinnsChris shares my commitment to working families. He's the best candidate for the future of Sydney and our state" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  7. ^ Noble, Freya (3 June 2021). "Senior NSW Labor MP says she supports Chris Minns to lead the party". 9News. Retrieved 4 June 2021.
  8. ^ Chris Minns [@MinnsChris] (31 May 2021). "I have a positive vision for NSW Labor. #nswpol" (Tweet). Retweeted by @Crakanthorp – via Twitter.
  9. ^ Dib, Jihad (2 June 2021). "I have known Chris Minns MP from before the time I entered the NSW Parliament. He is talented and I really like his idea of a positive approach to the future. We are in an unpleasant situation and need to look forward. I support his decision to nominate as leader of our Party. If it goes to a vote, he can rely on mine". Facebook. Retrieved 2 June 2021.
  10. ^ a b Caldwell, Anna; Van Homrigh, Mitchell (2 June 2021). "NSW Labor leadership: Push to make Chris Minns leader in days". The Daily Telegraph. Sydney, New South Wales. Retrieved 2 June 2021.
  11. ^ a b c Cormack, Lucy (2 June 2021). "'People want an experienced hand': Labor leadership candidates confident of support". Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 2 June 2021.
  12. ^ @johaylen (2 June 2021). "I'm supporting @MinnsChris because he has the bold ideas and positive vision to win Government in 2023. We need a new generation of leadership that is courageous and has a plan for the future. #nswpol" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  13. ^ @CourtneyHoussos (2 June 2021). "I'm supporting @MinnsChris to be the next Labor Leader because I believe he is the best person to lead our great Party. With the right policies, hard work and determination we can win the next election, and NSW needs that more than ever. #nswpol" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  14. ^ @RoseBJackson (2 June 2021). "Hey #nswpol, Here's why I'm supporting @MinnsChris to be NSW Labor Leader. You all know I like talking (