New South Wales Labor Party
New South Wales Labor Party Australian Labor Party (New South Wales Branch) | ||
---|---|---|
Leader | Chris Minns | |
Deputy leader | Prue Car | |
General secretary | Dominic Offner | |
President | Michelle Rowland | |
Founded | 1891 | |
Headquarters | 383 Sussex Street, Sydney, New South Wales | |
Youth wing | Young Labor | |
Women's wing | Labor Women's Network | |
LGBT wing | Rainbow Labor | |
Membership (2020) | 15,427 (1,927)[a] | |
Ideology |
| |
Political position |
| |
National affiliation | House of Representatives 26 / 47 (NSW seats) | |
Senate | 4 / 12 (NSW seats) | |
Local government | 164 / 1,480 | |
Website | ||
www | ||
The New South Wales Labor Party, officially known as the Australian Labor Party (New South Wales Branch) and commonly referred to simply as NSW Labor, is the New South Wales branch of the Australian Labor Party (ALP). The branch is the current ruling party in the state of New South Wales and is led by Chris Minns, who has served concurrently as premier of New South Wales since 2023.
The parliamentary leader is elected from and by the members of the party caucus, comprising all party members in the Legislative Assembly and Legislative Council. The party factions have a strong influence on the election of the leader. The leader's position is dependent on the continuing support of the caucus (and party factions) and the leader may be deposed by failing to win a vote of confidence of parliamentary members. By convention, the premier sits in the Legislative Assembly, and is the leader of the party controlling a majority in that house. The party leader also typically is a member of the Assembly, though this is not a strict party constitutional requirement. Barrie Unsworth, for example, was elected party leader while a member of the Legislative Council. He then transferred to the Assembly by winning a seat at a by-election.
When the Labor party wins sufficient seats to be able to control a majority in the Legislative Assembly, the party leader becomes the State Premier and Labor will form the government. When Labor is the largest party not in government, the party leader becomes the Leader of the Opposition. To become a premier or opposition leader, the party leader must be or within a short period of time become a member of the Legislative Assembly.
History
This section needs additional citations for verification. (August 2014) |
Early history
The NSW branch of the Australian Labor Party, known as the Labor Electoral League of New South Wales from 1891 to 1917, first won 35 of the 141 seats in the NSW parliament at the 1891 election. The initial caucus voted against appointing a leader and the party was directed by a steering committee of five members until,[b] following a request from the party's extra-parliamentary executive, Joseph Cook was elected as the first leader in 1893. Cook left the party in the following year when he was obliged to sign a pledge that he would support all caucus decisions in parliament. James McGowen, who signed the pledge, succeeded Cook as party leader in 1894. At the 1894 state election Labor representation was reduced to 18. After the 1898 election, Labor held the balance of power with George Reid's Free Trade government being dependent on Labor to push through New South Wales' adoption of Federation. McGowen's support for Federation was critical to Labor maintaining its support for the adoption of measures to implement Federation, even though the party remained opposed to the adopted Constitution, which it saw as biased in favour of business interests. The 1904 state election saw Labor become the second largest party and the official opposition for the first time.[5]
First government in New South Wales and internal divisions
At the 1910 election, the Labor Party first won government in NSW with a slim majority of 46 of 90 seats; as a result, McGowen was premier from 1910 to 1913. But increasing success was accompanied by increasing tensions within the labour movement: from the 1890s the
McGowen was deposed by his deputy Holman after McGowen attempted to break a gas workers' strike by threatening to replace strikers with non-union labour. Upon the outbreak of
Conscription split
The
During his leadership of the Nationalist government, Holman vigorously defended the government-owned enterprises from the more conservative wing of his party. Durack's leadership lasted only for about three months, and he was succeeded by
Dooley–Storey era
On Storey's death in October 1921, James Dooley became leader of the party and premier. His government was defeated on the floor of the House on 13 December 1921, but new Premier George Fuller lost a vote within seven hours of his appointment, and Dooley regained power. He lost the 1922 election to Fuller in a highly sectarian election campaign.[6] As the result of a dispute with a party executive, dominated by the Australian Workers' Union, Dooley was expelled from the party in February 1923 and replaced by Greg McGirr as leader, but the Federal Executive intervened and appointed Bill Dunn as an interim leader until Jack Lang was elected by the caucus,[7] with the support of more radical unions, most prominently Albert Willis and his Australian Coal and Shale Employees' Federation.[5]
Lang era
Lang led the ALP to victory in the 1925 election and became Premier. His support in the caucus was challenged in 1926 and in that year the party's annual State Conference, which strongly supported Lang, assumed the right to select the leader instead of caucus. The following year Lang and his extra-parliamentary allies drastically altered the party rules so that State Conference delegates and members of the Central Executive were elected in a complicated group system.[8] The ALP was defeated at the 1927 election but won in a landslide at the 1930 election.
Lang opposed the Premiers' Plan to combat the Great Depression agreed to by the federal Labor government of James Scullin and the other state Premiers, who called for even more stringent cuts to government spending to balance the budget. In March 1931, the NSW branch of the party was expelled by the Federal Executive in the Federal Conference.
In October 1931, Lang's followers in the federal House of Representatives crossed the floor to vote with the conservative United Australia Party and bring down the Scullin government.
This action split the NSW Labor Party in two – Lang's followers and the expelled NSW branch became known as
Lang's lack of success at state elections eroded his support within the labour movement. He had not won a state election since 1930. This led some members of caucus, including Bob Heffron, to break away to form the Industrial Labor Party. In 1939, following intervention by the Federal Executive, the two factions were reunited at a state conference. This gathering also reversed the "red rules" and returned the power of selecting the party leader to the caucus. Lang was deposed in 1939.
McKell and post-war era
In August 1953, two Fairfield aldermen − including a former mayor − split from ALP to form the Official Labour Movement.[11] Although it won two seats at the local government elections in December 1953, it failed to defeat the ALP at state or federal elections and faded away soon after.[12][13]
Labor in government, 1952–1965
Cahill decisively won the
Opposition, 1965–1976
Renshaw also lost the 1968 election, after which he resigned the leadership, to be succeeded by Pat Hills. Hills lost the 1971 and 1973 election after which he was deposed by Neville Wran.
Wran–Unsworth era, 1976–1988
Wran narrowly won the 1976 election and remained premier until 1986. He was succeeded by Barrie Unsworth who took over the premiership until Labor's loss at the 1988 election, after which he resigned.
Carr era, 1988–2005
Bob Carr became leader in 1988 and led Labor to victory in the 1995 election. Carr was premier for 10 years, before resigning in 2005. He was the longest continuous-serving premier in New South Wales.
Iemma era, 2005–2008
Carr was succeeded by Morris Iemma. At the time, the state transport network was inferior, and public transport was often criticised as the most stark example of Carr's inaction.[14] Iemma and the Treasurer Michael Costa supported the idea to sidestep the high costs and industrial risks of the existing RailCorp network and instead begin building a new rapid transit rail system in parallel. The new system would incorporate smaller, lighter rolling stock, reducing construction costs, and be operated by the private sector, reducing operating costs. But despite the savings available via the rapid transit option, the costs were still beyond the state's means.
Iemma comfortably won the 2007 election with the loss of only four seats. His strategy was to draw a line under the failures of the Carr era and ask the electorate for another chance. The Opposition ran a poor campaign, and the electorate was minded to trust the affable, hard-working new premier. Iemma was returned but with far less political capital than the size of Labor's majority would suggest.[15]
Proposed electricity privatisation
This is why I am the Premier.
— Morris Iemma, late 2007
Journalist Simon Benson describes a crucial meeting in late 2007 between Iemma and Labor state president Bernie Riordan during the height of the furore over electricity privatisation:
[Iemma] had laid out on his desk a spreadsheet of infrastructure projects … On the bottom half were all the projects the state needed if it was to avoid choking on its own congestion within the next decade. It amounted to more than $25 billion. And that was what they hadn't even announced.
"This is why I am the Premier," he told Riordan, emphasising his belief that it was critical for the privatisation to succeed. "These [projects] need to be done. I need to do these."[15]
Immediately following the 2007 election, Iemma and Treasurer Costa secretly plotted their strategy for the next four years, under the heading of "bullets to bite". Both knew that if they were to build the new rapid transit system and address the growing crisis in electricity supply, they would need to bring the private sector into the state's electricity industry first.[15]
The federal party's immediate political needs intervened, with the new federal Labor leader Kevin Rudd persuading Iemma to defer his privatisation announcement until after the 2007 federal election. Rudd felt he could ill afford the distraction of a debate over asset sales in the country's most populous state. With the funding source a secret, the rapid transit plan had to be kept under wraps as well.[15][16]
Along with his plan to sell the government's electricity generation and retailing companies, Iemma announced a massive infrastructure scheme involving South West Rail Link, an inner city motorway network, and the Metro Link network, a system of underground, privately operated, single-deck, automated trains. The government planned to use up to $3 billion from the sale of retail electricity to help fund the inner city motorway network, linking the M4 Western Motorway to the CBD and the airport[17]
The
What followed was an extraordinary, year-long struggle by the party's head office and affiliated trade unions to force cabinet and caucus to abandon an already-announced policy. Robertson, Bitar and Foley had the union-dominated party conference pass a motion reminding MPs of the party's notional commitment to democratic socialism. Next, union and party officials began threatening Labor MPs with disendorsement if they voted with the Premier on privatisation. Remembering the promise Rudd had made to him in 2007, Iemma called on the Prime Minister to have the federal party intervene to protect MPs who sided with the Government. Rudd declined. Former Prime Minister Paul Keating, former premiers Carr, Barrie Unsworth and Neville Wran, and former Labor Council secretaries Michael Easson and John McBean came out publicly in support of Iemma.[15]
On 3 May 2008, the NSW Labor's State Conference rejected, by 702 to 107 votes, the Iemma government's plans to privatise the state's electricity system.[19][20]
Two members of the party's
On 3 September 2008, Deputy Premier and Transport Minister John Watkins announced he was going to retire for family reasons, triggering a cabinet reshuffle.[22] On 4 September 2008, Costa was advised by Iemma that he would no longer be in the forthcoming reshuffle and hence dumped as Treasurer.[23] Iemma had also proposed that other ministers would be dumped, including Health Minister Reba Meagher. Iemma's faction, Centre Unity, supported the sacking of the Treasurer but not the other four Ministers. The following day, right-wing Labor powerbrokers Eddie Obeid and Joe Tripodi told Iemma that he had lost the support of MPs and would not survive a caucus meeting. Nathan Rees also walked into the meeting with a number of Labor MPs announcing he had the numbers to overthrow Iemma. Seeing that he had lost the support of his caucus faction, Iemma resigned as leader and Premier.[24][25] He was replaced by Rees as leader and Premier.[26]
Rees and Keneally era, 2008–2011
Rees was leader and premier for only 15 months before he was deposed by Kristina Keneally, who resigned after Labor was defeated in a landslide at the 2011 election.
Opposition, 2011–2023
Keneally was succeeded by
Minns era, 2021–present
2021–2023
After going through five leaders since the
By the time of the 2023 state election, the party had a myriad of key election promises, including: scrapping the public-sector wages cap;[34][35] "Improve conditions for tenants by establishing a Rental Commissioner to advocate for renters, allowing renters to directly transfer bonds from one property to another, outlawing secret rental bidding, and listing reasonable grounds for owners to end a lease (to stop unfair evictions);"[36] "ensure the trains are built in New South Wales, creating at least 1,000 jobs;"[37] "establish TAFE manufacturing centres so every year, an extra 1,000 apprentices can be trained in skills like mechanical engineering and electrical fitting for free;"[37] "Tradies and truck drivers using the M5 East and M8 would also have their tolls cut. Those who take two trips a day, five days a week will save a total of $3,800 a year;"[37] and ban financial donations from clubs as well as trialing a mandatory cashless gaming card, among many others.[36]
2023–present
In March 2023, the New South Wales Labor Party won the election, however only won a minority government.[38][39] At the time Minns was appointed leader of the party, the Premier of New South Wales was Liberal Party leader Gladys Berejiklian. However, four months later Berejiklian was replaced by Dominic Perrottet. Initially opinion polls remained fairly steady, with the Liberal–National Coalition government losing one to two points.[40][41] By September 2022 (1 year, 106 days after Minns became party leader) the party took the lead in the primary vote polls for the first time in over a decade,[42] and maintained the two-party-preferred opinion poll consistently until the state election. ABC News stated, following the election, that "Labor's pledge to scrap the Coalition's public-sector wages cap was, in hindsight, instrumental in delivering the party majority government."[43]
Since coming into office the party has officially achieved two election commitments:[44] stopping the privatisation of Sydney Water and Hunter Water via a legislative amendment;[45] raising the stamp duty exemption threshold for first-home buyers from $650k to $800k.[46]
Attempted party reforms
Between 2009 and 2014, the Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) began or completed a series of investigations into the behaviours of a number of Labor politicians, including Angela D'Amore,[47] Tony Kelly,[48] Ian Macdonald,[49][50][51] Eddie Obeid,[52][53][54] Karyn Paluzzano,[55][56] and Joe Tripodi.[53] The ICAC made a series of adverse findings against all six politicians, although Paluzzano was the only one to face criminal charges. For bringing the party into disrepute, Kelly had his membership of Labor terminated in 2011;[57][58] both Macdonald and Obeid had their membership terminated in 2013;[59] and Tripodi suffered the same fate in 2014.[53][54] Other investigations and criminal charges were laid against Craig Thomson, a federal politician from New South Wales, and Michael Williamson, a senior Labor official, also from New South Wales. Both Thomson and Williamson were adversely implicated in the Health Services Union expenses affair. Their membership of NSW Labor was terminated in 2014.[60][61]
Seeking to stamp out perceived corruption and factional infighting, Senator John Faulkner began a process of reforms that proposed to include rank–and–file members in decisions such as the selection of candidates for Senate and Legislative Council vacancies and party tickets, and a vote in the direct election of the New South Wales parliamentary leaders.[62] However, Faulkner's reform proposals were mostly rejected at NSW Labor's 2014 conference.[63] The direct election of party leader gained support with effect from after the 2015 election.[64]
Following the suspension of the general secretary of NSW Labor, Kaila Murnain in 2019, the NSW Labor Leader Jodi McKay and federal Labor Leader Anthony Albanese announced a further review into the party.[65] Michael Lavarch conducted the review after Murnain admitted to the Independent Commission Against Corruption (New South Wales) that she was aware that billionaire property developer Huang Xiangmo made an illegal $100,000 donation to NSW Labor in 2016.[66] The Lavarch Review recommended changes to internal governance and oversight mechanisms within NSW Labor including the establishment of a State Executive Board to oversee the existing NSW Labor Administrative Committee.[67]
Country Labor
Country Labor was a subsection of the ALP, and was used as a designation by candidates contesting elections in rural areas. It functioned as a sort of ginger group within the party, and was somewhat analogous to its youth wing. The Country Labor Party was registered as a separate party in NSW, until 2021[68] and was also registered with the Australian Electoral Commission (AEC) for federal elections.[69]
The creation of a separate designation for rural candidates was first suggested at the June 1999 ALP state conference in NSW. In May 2000, following Labor's success at the 2000 Benalla by-election in Victoria, Kim Beazley announced that the ALP intended to register a separate "Country Labor Party" with the AEC;[70] this occurred in October 2000.[69] The Country Labor designation is most frequently used in New South Wales. According to the ALP's financial statements for the 2015–16 financial year, NSW Country Labor had around 2,600 members (around 17 percent of the party total), but almost no assets. It recorded a severe funding shortfall at the 2015 NSW state election, and had to rely on a $1.68 million loan from the party proper to remain solvent. It had been initially assumed that the party proper could provide the money from its own resources, but the NSW Electoral Commission ruled that this was impermissible because the parties were registered separately. Instead the party proper had to loan Country Labor the required funds at a commercial interest rate.[71]
The dedicated Country Labor political party was de-registered in October 2021 in a major party reform.[72] Instead of a dedicated political party, the ALP instead pledged to dedicate "30 per cent of winnable seats in upper house ticket to people who live in regional NSW".[72]
Other Labor-aligned groups
In New South Wales, a number of groups have been formed as associates of the NSW branch. These groups are divided along policy, cultural and professional lines. They include the following:[73]
- Sub-Continent Friends of Labor
- Arabic Friends of Labor
- Chinese Friends of Labor
- Labor Action for Multicultural Policy
- Labor Science Network
- NSW Society of Labor Lawyers
- Labor Environment Action Network
- Aboriginal Labor Network
- Labor for Treaty
- Labor for the Arts
- Irish Friends of Labor
List of parliamentary leaders
# | Leader | Term start | Term end | Time in office | Premier | Departure notes | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Steering Committee of 5 [b] | July 1891 | October 1893 | No | Caucus decision to elect a leader | ||
2 | Joseph Cook | October 1893 | 25 June 1894 | No | Left the Labor Party | ||
3 | James McGowen | 25 June 1894 | 30 June 1913 | 19 years, 5 days | Yes (1910–13) | Deposed | |
4 | William Holman | 30 June 1913 | 15 November 1916 | 3 years, 138 days | Yes (1913–1920) (As Nationalist after 1916) |
Expelled from the Labor Party | |
5 | Ernest Durack | 15 November 1916 | 21 February 1917 | 98 days | No | Resigned | |
6 | John Storey | 21 February 1917 | 5 October 1921 | 4 years, 226 days | Yes (1920–1921) | Died in office | |
7 | James Dooley | 5 October 1921 | 31 July 1923 | 1 year, 299 days | Yes (1921–1921, 1921–1922) | Expelled from the Labor Party by the state executive | |
* | Greg McGirr | 9 March 1923 | 16 April 1923 | 38 days | No | Imposed by the state executive | |
* | Bill Dunn | 16 April 1923 | 31 July 1923 | 106 days | No | Imposed by the federal executive | |
8 | Jack Lang | 31 July 1923 | 5 September 1938 | 15 years, 36 days | Yes (1925–1927, 1930–1932) | Deposed following a caucus vote | |
9 | William McKell | 5 September 1938 | 6 February 1947 | 8 years, 154 days | Yes (1941–1947) | Resigned to become Governor-General | |
10 | James McGirr
|
6 February 1947 | 3 April 1952 | 5 years, 57 days | Yes (1947–1952) | Resigned | |
11 | Joseph Cahill | 3 April 1952 | 22 October 1959 | 7 years, 202 days | Yes (1952–1959) | Died in office | |
12 | Bob Heffron | 22 October 1959 | 30 April 1964 | 4 years, 191 days | Yes (1959–1964) | Resigned | |
13 | Jack Renshaw | 30 April 1964 | 1968 | Yes (1964–1965) | Resigned | ||
14 | Pat Hills | 1968 | 3 December 1973 | No | Deposed following the 1973 election | ||
15 | Neville Wran | 3 December 1973 | 4 July 1986 | 12 years, 213 days | Yes (1976–1986) | Resigned | |
16 | Barrie Unsworth | 4 July 1986 | 11 April 1988 | 1 year, 282 days | Yes (1986–1988) | Resigned following the 1988 election | |
17 | Bob Carr | 11 April 1988 | 3 August 2005 | 17 years, 114 days | Yes (1995–2005) | Resigned | |
18 | Morris Iemma | 3 August 2005 | 5 September 2008 | 3 years, 33 days | Yes (2005–2008) | Resigned | |
19 | Nathan Rees | 5 September 2008 | 3 December 2009 | 1 year, 89 days | Yes (2008–2009) | Deposed following a caucus vote | |
20 | Kristina Keneally | 3 December 2009 | 31 March 2011 | 1 year, 118 days | Yes (2009–2011) | Resigned following the 2011 election | |
21 | John Robertson | 31 March 2011 | 23 December 2014 | 3 years, 267 days | No | Resigned following the 2014 Sydney hostage crisis
| |
* | Linda Burney | 23 December 2014 | 5 January 2015 | 13 days | No | Interim leader until the 2015 leadership election
| |
22 | Luke Foley | 5 January 2015 | 8 November 2018 | 3 years, 307 days | No | Resigned | |
23 | Michael Daley | 8 November 2018 | 25 March 2019 | 137 days | No | Resigned following the 2019 state election | |
* | Penny Sharpe | 25 March 2019 | 29 June 2019 | 96 days | No | Interim leader until the 2019 leadership election
| |
24 | Jodi McKay | 29 June 2019 | 28 May 2021 | 1 year, 333 days | No | Resigned following the 2021 Upper Hunter by-election | |
* | Adam Searle | 28 May 2021 | 4 June 2021 | 7 days | No | Interim leader until the 2021 leadership election
| |
25 | Chris Minns | 4 June 2021 | Incumbent | 2 years, 324 days | Yes (2023–present) |
List of deputy parliamentary leaders
Deputy leader | Term start | Term end | Time in office | Deputy premier | Leader | Departure notes | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Unknown | 1893 | 1923 | Joseph Cook | ||||
James McGowen | |||||||
William Holman | |||||||
Ernest Durack | |||||||
John Storey | |||||||
Bill Dunn | 1922 | 1923 | No | James Dooley | Became leader | ||
Greg McGirr | |||||||
Peter Loughlin | 1923 | 1926 | No | Bill Dunn | |||
Jack Lang | |||||||
Jack Baddeley | 1927 | 1949 | Yes (1941–1949) | ||||
William McKell | |||||||
James McGirr
| |||||||
Joseph Cahill | 1949 | 3 April 1952 | Yes (1949–1952) | James McGirr
|
Became leader | ||
Bob Heffron | 1953 | 22 October 1959 | Yes (1953–1959) | Joseph Cahill | Became leader | ||
Jack Renshaw | 22 October 1959 | 30 April 1964 | 4 years, 191 days | Yes (1959–1964) | Bob Heffron | Became leader | |
Pat Hills | 30 April 1964 | 1968 | Yes (1964–1965) | Jack Renshaw | Became leader | ||
Syd Einfeld | 1968 | 1973 | No | Pat Hills | |||
Jack Ferguson | 3 December 1973 | 10 February 1984 | 10 years, 69 days | Yes (1976–1984) | Neville Wran | Resigned | |
Ron Mulock | 10 February 1984 | 25 March 1988 | 4 years, 44 days | Yes (1984–1988) | Neville Wran | Resigned following the 1988 election | |
Barrie Unsworth | |||||||
Andrew Refshauge | 11 April 1988 | 3 August 2005 | 17 years, 114 days | Yes (1995–2005) | Bob Carr | Resigned | |
John Watkins | 3 August 2005 | 3 September 2008 | 3 years, 31 days | Yes (2005–2008) | Morris Iemma | Resigned | |
Carmel Tebbutt | 3 September 2008 | 28 March 2011 | 2 years, 206 days | Yes (2008–2011) | Nathan Rees | Resigned following the 2011 election | |
Kristina Keneally | |||||||
Linda Burney | 28 March 2011 | 7 March 2015 | 3 years, 344 days | No | John Robertson | Moved to federal politics | |
Luke Foley | |||||||
Michael Daley | 7 March 2015 | 10 November 2018 | 2 years, 248 days | No | Became leader | ||
Penny Sharpe | 10 November 2018 | 25 March 2019 | 135 days | No | Michael Daley | Became interim leader | |
Yasmin Catley | 29 June 2019 | 28 May 2021 | 1 year, 333 days | No | Jodi McKay | Resigned | |
Prue Car | 8 June 2021 | incumbent | 2 years, 320 days | Yes (2023–present) | Chris Minns |
Executive leaders
Presidents
President | Period |
---|---|
Frederick Flowers
|
1895–1898 |
Frederick Flowers
|
1906–1907 |
Ernest Farrar | 1912–1914 |
Richard Meagher
|
1914–1915 |
Jack FitzGerald | 1915–1916 |
Jack Power | 1921–1923 |
Albert Willis | 1923–1925 |
Francis Kelly | 1943–1947 |
John Ferguson | 1947–1952 |
Bill Colbourne | 1952–1955 |
Jim Shortell | 1955–1956 |
Fred Campbell | 1956–1960 |
Charlie Oliver | 1960–1971 |
John Ducker | 1971–1979 |
Paul Keating | 1979–1983 |
John MacBean | 1983–1989 |
Terry Sheahan | 1989–1997 |
Peter Sams | 1997–1998 |
Steve Hutchins | 1998–2002 |
Ursula Stephens | 2002–2006 |
Bernie Riordan | 2006–2010 |
Michael Lee | 2010–2014 |
Mark Lennon | 2014–2021 |
Michelle Rowland | 2021–present |
General secretaries
General Secretary | Period |
---|---|
Walter Evans | 1939–1940 |
William Dickson | 1940–1941 |
John Stewart | 1941–1950 |
Ernest Gerard Wright | 1950–1952 |
Charles Wilson Anderson | 1952–1954 |
Bill Colbourne | 1954–1969 |
Peter Westerway | 1969–1973 |
Geoff Cahill | 1973–1976 |
Graham Richardson | 1976–1983 |
Stephen Loosley | 1983–1990 |
John Della Bosca | 1990–1999 |
Eric Roozendaal | 1999–2004 |
Mark Arbib | 2004–2007 |
Karl Bitar | 2007–2008 |
Matt Thistlethwaite | 2008–2010 |
Sam Dastyari | 2010–2013 |
Jamie Clements | 2013–2016 |
Kaila Murnain | 2016–2019 |
Bob Nanva | 2019–2023 |
Dominic Offner | 2023–present |
Election results
State elections
Election | Leader | Seats won | ± | Total votes | % | Position |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1891 | Steering Committee | 35 / 141
|
35 | 37,216 | 20.62% | Third party |
1894 | James McGowen | 15 / 125
|
20 | 33,143 | 16.49% | Third party |
1895 | 18 / 125
|
3 | 20,028 | 13.20% | Third party | |
1898 | 19 / 125
|
1 | 21,556 | 12.18% | Third party | |
1901 | 24 / 125
|
5 | 35,952 | 18.44% | Third party | |
1904 | 25 / 90
|
1 | 92,426 | 23.3% | Opposition | |
1907 | 32 / 90
|
7 | 152,704 | 33.31% | Opposition | |
1910 | 46 / 90
|
14 | 280,056 | 48.92% | Majority government | |
1913 | William Holman | 49 / 90
|
3 | 311,747 | 46.63% | Majority government |
1917 | John Storey | 33 / 90
|
16 | 262,655 | 42.63% | Opposition |
1920 | 43 / 90
|
10 | 68,175 | 43.03% | Majority government | |
1922 | 36 / 90
|
7 | 85,361 | 38.37% | Opposition | |
1925 | Jack Lang | 46 / 90
|
10 | 108,225 | 45.99% | Majority government |
1927 | 40 / 90
|
6 | 488,306 | 43.00% | Opposition | |
1930 | 55 / 90
|
15 | 729,914 | 55.05% | Majority government | |
1932 | 24 / 90
|
31 | 536,897 | 40.16% | Opposition | |
1935 | 29 / 90
|
5 | 532,486 | 42.42% | Opposition | |
1938 | 28 / 90
|
1 | 412,063 | 34.82% | Opposition | |
1941 | William McKell | 54 / 90
|
26 | 706,014 | 50.8% | Majority government |
1944 | 56 / 90
|
2 | 572,600 | 45.2% | Majority government | |
1947 | James McGirr
|
52 / 90
|
4 | 730,194 | 45.95% | Majority government |
1950 | 46 / 94
|
2 | 753,268 | 46.75% | Minority government | |
1953 | Joseph Cahill | 57 / 94
|
11 | 852,276 | 55.03% | Majority government |
1956 | 50 / 94
|
7 | 800,410 | 47.25% | Majority government | |
1959 | 49 / 94
|
1 | 838,836 | 49.12% | Majority government | |
1962 | Bob Heffron | 54 / 94
|
5 | 936,047 | 48.57% | Majority government |
1965 | Jack Renshaw | 45 / 94
|
9 | 883,824 | 43.31% | Opposition |
1968 | 39 / 94
|
6 | 931,563 | 43.1% | Opposition | |
1971 | Pat Hills | 45 / 96
|
6 | 1,007,538 | 45.02% | Opposition |
1973 | 44 / 99
|
1 | 1,069,614 | 42.93% | Opposition | |
1976 | Neville Wran | 50 / 99
|
6 | 1,342,038 | 49.75% | Majority government |
1978 | 63 / 99
|
13 | 1,615,949 | 57.77% | Majority government | |
1981 | 69 / 99
|
6 | 1,564,622 | 55.73% | Majority government | |
1984 | 58 / 99
|
11 | 1,466,413 | 48.77% | Majority government | |
1988 | Barrie Unsworth | 43 / 109
|
15 | 1,233,612 | 38.48% | Opposition |
1991 | Bob Carr | 46 / 99
|
3 | 1,204,066 | 39.05% | Opposition |
1995 | 50 / 99
|
4 | 1,408,616 | 41.26% | Majority government | |
1999 | 55 / 93
|
5 | 1,576,886 | 42.21% | Majority government | |
2003 | 55 / 93
|
– | 1,631,018 | 42.68% | Majority government | |
2007 | Morris Iemma | 52 / 93
|
3 | 1,535,872 | 38.98% | Majority government |
2011 | Kristina Keneally | 20 / 93
|
32 | 1,061,352 | 25.55% | Opposition |
2015 | Luke Foley | 34 / 93
|
14 | 1,500,855 | 34.08% | Opposition |
2019 | Michael Daley | 36 / 93
|
2 | 1,516,143 | 33.31% | Opposition |
2023 | Chris Minns | 45 / 93
|
9 | 1,738,081 | 36.97% | Minority government |
Federal elections
Election | Seats won | ± | Total votes | % | ± | Leader |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1901 | 6 / 26
|
6 | 38,822 | 18.40% | 18.40% | No leader |
1903 | 7 / 26
|
1 | 58,494 | 21.30% | 2.90% | Chris Watson |
1906 | 11 / 27
|
4 | 133,091 | 38.50% | 17.20% | |
1910 | 17 / 27
|
6 | 252,194 | 51.10% | 12.60% | Andrew Fisher |
1913 | 12 / 27
|
5 | 326,326 | 46.90% | 4.20% | |
1914 | 14 / 27
|
2 | 309,862 | 52.20% | 5.30% | |
1917 | 10 / 27
|
4 | 268,584 | 41.70% | 10.50% | Frank Tudor |
1919 | 14 / 27
|
4 | 306,951 | 46.00% | 4.30% | |
1922 | 13 / 28
|
1 | 232,211 | 42.60% | 3.40% | Matthew Charlton |
1925 | 11 / 28
|
2 | 520,385 | 46.30% | 3.70% | |
1928 | 14 / 28
|
3 | 536,558 | 52.10% | 5.80% | James Scullin |
1929 | 20 / 28
|
6 | 587,691 | 51.50% | 0.60% | |
1931 | 3 / 28
|
17 | 214,973 | 16.40% | 35.10% | |
1934 | 1 / 28
|
2 | 132,779 | 9.40% | 7.00% | |
1937 | 11 / 28
|
10 | 635,511 | 45.30% | 35.90% | John Curtin |
1940 | 12 / 28
|
1 | 540,055 | 35.30% | 10.00% | |
1943 | 21 / 28
|
9 | 846,885 | 53.80% | 18.50% | |
1946 | 19 / 28
|
2 | 880,493 | 51.40% | 2.40% | Ben Chifley |
1949 | 23 / 47
|
4 | 849,033 | 46.90% | 4.50% | |
1951 | 24 / 47
|
1 | 898,883 | 49.10% | 2.20% | |
1954 | 25 / 47
|
1 | 923,469 | 52.30% | 3.20% | H.V. Evatt
|
1955 | 21 / 46
|
4 | 836,592 | 49.60% | 2.70% | |
1958 | 22 / 46
|
1 | 900,483 | 47.10% | 2.50% | |
1961 | 27 / 46
|
5 | 1,041,238 | 52.20% | 5.10% | Arthur Calwell |
1963 | 20 / 46
|
7 | 987,228 | 47.50% | 4.70% | |
1966 | 17 / 46
|
3 | 862,631 | 40.70% | 6.80% | |
1969 | 22 / 45
|
5 | 1,074,916 | 47.70% | 7.00% | Gough Whitlam |
1972 | 28 / 45
|
6 | 1,252,047 | 51.90% | 4.20% | |
1974 | 25 / 45
|
3 | 1,400,255 | 52.70% | 0.80% | |
1975 | 17 / 45
|
8 | 1,260,335 | 45.50% | 7.20% | |
1977 | 17 / 43
|
0 | 1,201,560 | 42.40% | 3.10% | |
1980 | 18 / 43
|
1 | 1,357,557 | 46.40% | 4.00% | Bill Hayden |
1983 | 24 / 43
|
6 | 1,512,012 | 50.10% | 3.70% | Bob Hawke |
1984 | 29 / 51
|
5 | 1,458,856 | 48.26% | 1.84% | |
1987 | 28 / 51
|
1 | 1,438,985 | 45.17% | 3.09% | |
1990 | 30 / 51
|
2 | 1,380,780 | 41.16% | 4.01% | |
1993 | 33 / 50
|
3 | 1,714,512 | 48.36% | 7.20% | Paul Keating |
1996 | 20 / 50
|
13 | 1,453,542 | 39.56% | 8.76% | |
1998 | 22 / 50
|
2 | 1,489,021 | 40.12% | 0.56% | Kim Beazley |
2001 | 20 / 50
|
2 | 1,380,822 | 36.45% | 3.67% | |
2004 | 21 / 50
|
1 | 1,412,418 | 36.70% | 0.25% | Mark Latham |
2007 | 28 / 49
|
7 | 1,791,171 | 44.12% | 7.42% | Kevin Rudd |
2010 | 26 / 48
|
2 | 1,494,490 | 37.28% | 6.84% | Julia Gillard |
2013 | 18 / 48
|
8 | 1,433,842 | 34.52% | 2.76% | Kevin Rudd |
2016 | 24 / 47
|
6 | 1,611,549 | 36.93% | 2.41% | Bill Shorten |
2019 | 24 / 47
|
0 | 1,568,223 | 34.56% | 2.37% | |
2022 | 26 / 47
|
2 | 1,475,210 | 33.47% | 1.09% | Anthony Albanese |
Notes
- ^ In 2015 the party had a membership of 18,321.[1] In June and July 2019, the party's membership figures were reportedly 10,800 and/or c. 13,500.[2][3] By 2020, the party's membership numbers had increased from 2019 and was numbered at 15,427.[1]
- ^ a b The members of the steering committee were George Black, Joseph Cook, Jack FitzGerald, Thomas Houghton and William Sharp.[74][75]
- ^ The Beaches Link proposal was officially cancelled in September 2023 by the Minns government.[31][32]
References
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- ^ Price, Jenna (2 July 2019). "A rush to join but do political parties want new members?". Sydney Morning Herald. Archived from the original on 8 November 2020. Retrieved 1 April 2021.
- ^ Kidd, Jessica; Gerathy, Sarah (29 June 2019). "Jodi McKay wins NSW Labor leadership from Chris Minns after three-month process". ABC News. Archived from the original on 8 November 2020. Retrieved 13 November 2020.
- ^ from the original on 27 October 2022.
- ^ JSTOR 27713745.
- ^ Cunneen, Chris. Dooley, James Thomas (1877–1950). Australian National University. Archived from the original on 21 March 2007. Retrieved 19 February 2007.
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- ^ Scott Stephenson, "The New South Wales Labor Party's 1927 Rules: A case study of democracy and oligarchy within political parties," Australian Journal of Political Science Vol. 50 , Iss. 2, 2015.
- ^ Nairn, Bede. "Beasley, John Albert (Jack) (1895–1949)". Lang, John Thomas (Jack) (1876–1975). Australian National University. Archived from the original on 7 November 2019. Retrieved 18 November 2019.
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