The situation in New South Wales

Showdown number one: Mike Baird versus Luke Foley on March 29.

Luke Foley was yesterday elected unopposed as the new leader of the New South Wales Parliamentary Labor Party. This is slightly awkward in that he is a member of the Legislative Council, but bigger obstacles have of course been overcome before. One way or another, it appears he will be contested the lower house seat of Auburn, currently held by Barbara Perry, a colleague of Foley’s in the Left faction (UPDATE: Sorry, wrong about that) whose star is on the wane. Beyond that I have nothing to offer but this, an open thread for discussion of matters New South Wales.

Author: William Bowe

William Bowe is a Perth-based election analyst and occasional teacher of political science. His blog, The Poll Bludger, has existed in one form or another since 2004, and is one of the most heavily trafficked websites on Australian politics.

18 comments on “The situation in New South Wales”

  1. It’s a truism but a failure to win is just that failure. Labor in NSW has arrogantly refused to reform and has yet again panic changed a leader in a head office stitch up. Nothing short of external administration of the NSW branch is needed maybe Mike Rann of Steve Bracks can come into do the job in April.

  2. Dear Readers and Mr Bowe,
    Just a quick comment, your article is flawed. Barbara Perry is not of the left faction. Mr Foley would be contesting, not as you put it “contested”.
    Pedant maybe but one phone call to NSW Parliament could have filled you in on the facts. Try that next time hey. Leading one to qustion most of your other assumptions. If you don’t cover NSW Politics properly then please leave it to those who do.

  3. Develop a sense of perspective please, Grant. This is not an “article”, but an open thread blog post to provide a space for people wishing to discuss NSW politics, which I spent 20 seconds knocking out at 5:30am. I did not intend for it to stand up to withering scrutiny. And no, if I call NSW Parliament to ask what faction someone is in at 8am, or indeed at any other time, I am not going to get an answer. Nor would doing so be a sensible way for me allocate my time. Thank you though for pointing out the error re Perry’s faction. That at least was worth doing.

  4. I must confess to some admiration of ESJ’s stamina, if not necessarily their principles. It takes a lot of work to be a one-person cheering squad for the LNP….

  5. i am happy to join ESJ in this crusade. The battle of Baird v Foley will be an intesresting one, but lets not forget it was Foley who fought like nothing else to keep Ian Mcdonald in Parliament when Faulkner passionately wanted him out. Who got that one right?
    I also wonder whether anyone will talk about the elephant in the room, namely Foleys complete lack of any life outside of politics, which is made evn more stark by Baird’s very impressive resume. The NSW economy is booming largely because iof the reforms propounded by Baird, and I sense there will be only 10-12 seats lost come March. Still a hard task for Foley in 2019??

  6. What a tag team ESJ and Mod . Baird was responsible for a few howlers as Treasurer, anybody can sell off the furniture and have some quick bucks in the kitty. What about the lack of probity on the Westconnex, the Auditor General said it failed on seven different points, wow! Bruce Baird is a moderate, his scheming son is not.And relying on a bubbling housing market for your income is not clever.

  7. Ok mate go ahead and name the howlers as you so eloquently put it.
    Love to see that evidence.
    You haven’t addessed Foleys undying support for the now disgraced Ian McDonald – looking forward to that one!!

  8. Ok mate go ahead and name the howlers as you so eloquently put it.
    Love to see that evidence.
    You haven’t addessed Foleys undying support for the now disgraced Ian McDonald – looking forward to that one!!

  9. Once is enough! The missing 2billion . Position on CSG, Parramatta Road planning [all to be revealed after the election].

  10. Good play. Well done at establishing your credentials from an evidentiary persopective – there is no doubt a spot for you on the supreme court bench after that one.
    What about Foley/MacDonaldf – your silence in that regard is quite eloquent….

  11. The ‘left’ made a dreadful mistake in MacDonald, as John Faulkner has consistently pointed out.Luke Foley is not beholding to anyone. He is a very decent and smart man. Who ‘owns’ Baird?

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