An election for the leadership of the New South Wales branch of the Australian Labor Party was held between 7 and 29 June 2019. The election was triggered by the resignation of Leader Michael Daley on 25 March 2019. The election was a combined vote by the party membership and the Labor members of the

Parliament of New South Wales The Parliament of New South Wales is a bicameral legislature in the Australian state of New South Wales (NSW), consisting of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly (lower house) and the New South Wales Legislative Council (upper house). Eac ...

, with each component weighted equally. The party members were sent their ballots on 7 June and had until 21 June to return them, while the parliamentary caucus met on 29 June to cast their votes. On 29 June,

Jodi McKay Jodi Leyanne McKay (born 16 August 1969) is a former Australian politician who was the Leader of the Opposition in the Parliament of New South Wales from June 2019 until May 2021. She previously served as a member of the New South Wales Legislat ...

was announced as the victor of the contest, winning 60.5% of the combined vote.

Background

Following Labor's loss in the 2019 state election, then-leader Michael Daley resigned under pressure from the party caucus after initially declaring he would remain as head of the party and leader of the opposition. This triggered a leadership election to be held at an undetermined future date. Daley initially declared his intention to nominate for the leadership in the election, but on 26 March walked back on this statement. The contest was scheduled for after the 2019 federal election to avoid conflicting with Labor's federal campaign. Deputy leader

Penny Sharpe Penelope Gail Sharpe (born 22 October 1970) is an Australian politician. She has served as a member of the New South Wales Legislative Council since 2005, representing the Labor Party. Since June 2021, Sharpe is the leader of the opposition in ...

served as interim leader after Daley's resignation.

Campaign

On 23 May,

Chris Minns Christopher John Minns (born 17 September 1979) is an Australian politician who is the leader of the NSW Labor Party. He was elected to the New South Wales Legislative Assembly as the member for Kogarah for the Labor Party at the 2015 New South ...

announced he would contest the leadership. The following day,

announced she would also contest the leadership. A leadership debate was held on 3 June between the two candidates. *Minns emphasised the need for party renewal and rejuvenating Labor's image. Referring to Labor's losses in both the recent state and federal elections, he stated: "I am firmly of the belief that now is not the time for us to crawl up in a ball and for the Labor party not to believe in things. We are at our best when we believe in things. We are at our best when we stand for principles and fight for that." He said that his focus would be on liveable cities, privatisation, and climate change. He promised to better explain to voters that action on climate change was a necessary measure to protect both the state's environmental assets and its economy. He also emphasised a need to embrace immigrant communities, and make it clear that blame for the difficulties of overpopulation did not fall on immigration. *McKay agreed that Labor's losses prompted a need for self-reflection within the party, and that new leadership presented opportunities for change. She stated that she had " houghtabout my values and the values that I bring to the Labor Party." She promised to prioritise homelessness, mental health, and education, seeking to increase teacher salaries and reduce class sizes. She said: "I want us to talk about the difficult issues; they're not popular but they're issues that demand a Labor Party response."

Candidates

Nominated

, Shadow Minister for Water - announced 23 May 2019 *

, Shadow Minister for Transport and Shadow Minister for Roads, Maritime and Freight - announced 24 May 2019

Withdrew

* Michael Daley, Leader of the Opposition (2018–2019) ''(endorsed Jodi McKay)''

Declined

, Interim Leader (2019−present) and Deputy Leader (2018−2019) * Ryan Park, Shadow Treasurer *

Kate Washington Kate Rebecca Washington (born 1970) is an Australian politician who was elected to the New South Wales Legislative Assembly as the member for Port Stephens for the Australian Labor Party at the 2015 New South Wales state election. When first c ...

, Shadow Minister for Early Childhood Education and Shadow Minister for the Hunter ''(endorsed Jodi McKay)''

Results

Caucus Votes

Votes in favour of

: *

Jenny Aitchison Jennifer Kathleen Aitchison is an Australian politician in the New South Wales Legislative Assembly as member for Maitland for the Labor Party at the 2015 New South Wales state election. She is currently the Shadow Minister for Transport in th ...

* Stephen Ball * Clayton Barr *Mark Buttigieg *Prue Carr *Yasmin Catley *Sophie Cotsis *Tim Crakanthorp *Anthony D'Adam *Michael Daley *Trish Doyle *Julia Finn *John Graham *David Harris *Jodi Harrison *Paul Lynch *Hugh McDermott *Tara Moriarty *Marjorie O'Neill *Ryan Park *Peter Primrose *Adam Searle *Leisl Tesch *Mick Veitch *Lynda Voltz *Greg Warren *Kate Washington *Anna Watson Votes in favour of

*Chris Minns *Edmund Atalla *Anoulack Chanthivong *Jihad Dib *Jo Haylen *Greg Donnelly *Ron Hoenig *Courtney Houssos *Sonia Hornery *Rose Jackson *Steve Kamper *Nick Lalich *David Mehan *Tania Milhailuk *Daniel Mookhey *Shaoquett Moselmane *Janelle Safin *Paul Scully *Penny Sharpe *Walt Secord *Guy Zangari

References

{{Labor Party (NSW) 2019 elections in Australia Australian Labor Party leadership spills June 2019 events in Australia Australian Labor Party (New South Wales Branch) leadership election