Chris Minns

The Honourable
Chris Minns
MP
Minns in 2022.
47th Premier of New South Wales
Elections: 2023
Incumbent
Assumed office
28 March 2023
MonarchCharles III
GovernorMargaret Beazley
DeputyPrue Car
Preceded byDominic Perrottet
Leader of the Opposition in New South Wales
In office
4 June 2021 – 28 March 2023
PremierGladys Berejiklian
Dominic Perrottet
DeputyPrue Car
Preceded byJodi McKay
Succeeded byMark Speakman
Leader of the New South Wales Labor Party
Incumbent
Assumed office
4 June 2021
DeputyPrue Car
Preceded byJodi McKay
Shadow ministry (2016–2021)
Shadow Minister for Corrections
In office
3 July 2019 – 26 May 2021
LeaderJodi McKay
Preceded byGuy Zangari
Succeeded byTara Moriarty
Shadow Minister for Transport
In office
3 July 2019 – 26 May 2021
LeaderJodi McKay
Preceded byJodi McKay
Succeeded byJo Haylen
Shadow Minister for Water
In office
10 March 2016 – 3 July 2019
LeaderLuke Foley
Michael Daley
Penny Sharpe (interim)
Preceded byMick Veitch
Succeeded byClayton Barr
Member of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly for Kogarah
Incumbent
Assumed office
28 March 2015
Preceded byCherie Burton
Local Government
Deputy Mayor of Hurstville
In office
12 September 2007 – 13 September 2008
MayorVince Badalati
Preceded bySandy Grekas
Succeeded byPhilip Sansom
Councillor of the Hurstville City Council
In office
24 March 2004 – 13 September 2008
WardPenshurst
Personal details
Born
Christopher John Minns

(1979-09-17) 17 September 1979 (age 45)
St George, New South Wales, Australia[1]
Political partyLabor
Spouse
Anna Minns
​
(m. 2005)​
Children3
Residences
EducationMarist College Kogarah[1]
Alma materUniversity of New England
Princeton University
Websitewww.chrisminns.com.au

Christopher John Minns (born 17 September 1979) is an Australian politician serving as the 47th and current premier of New South Wales since March 2023. He has been the leader of the New South Wales branch of the Australian Labor Party (ALP) since 2021 and a member of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly (MLA) for the district of Kogarah since 2015. He was previously the deputy mayor of Hurstville from 2007 to 2008.[4]

Minns was first elected at the 2015 New South Wales state election, and was elected unopposed as leader of the Labor Party in the leadership election of June 2021, following the resignation of Jodi McKay. He led the party to victory at the 2023 state election.

Early and personal life

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Minns was raised in the St George region of Sydney in the suburb of Penshurst.[5] He studied at Marist College Kogarah.[6] He holds a Bachelor of Arts from the University of New England in Armidale and attended Princeton University in the United States where he was awarded a Masters in Public Policy (2012–13).[7]

Minns is married and has three sons with his wife Anna. Upon his return from Princeton, while his wife pursued her own business opportunities Minns became the carer of his sons before nominating for parliament.[8]

Minns has previously worked in the charity sector for a youth mental health charity, as a firefighter, as an advisor in the NSW government and as the assistant secretary of the NSW Labor Party.

He joined the Australian Labor Party in 1998 when he was 18 years old[5] and was elected as the member for Kogarah in 2015.

Minns is a supporter of NRL club the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs.[9]

Minns' father, John, died on the 1 May 2024 after suffering a heart attack. In Minns' inaugural speech, he spoke about his love for his father, and thanked him for bringing Minns into the "Labor tribe".[10]

Political career

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Minns was first elected to office in 2004 as a Penshurst Ward councillor of the Hurstville City Council, and was elected for a term as deputy mayor in 2007–2008; he left council at the 2008 election after serving a single term. He also worked on the staff of Carl Scully and John Robertson.[11]

Premier

[edit]
Minns in 2019

In March 2016 a reshuffle of the shadow ministry following the resignation of Linda Burney resulted in Minns being appointed Shadow Minister for Water, replacing Mick Veitch.

Following Luke Foley's resignation as NSW Labor leader and leader of the NSW opposition, Minns nominated for the roles. On 10 November 2018 Minns lost the leadership spill to Michael Daley, 33 votes to 12.[12] After the 2019 state election Minns lost the leadership election to Jodi McKay on a combined caucus and party membership vote of 60.5% to 39.5%.[13] He was appointed to the portfolios of transport and corrections in the shadow cabinet.[14]

2021 leadership challenge

[edit]

Following Labor's defeat at the Upper Hunter by-election in May 2021 and a possible leadership challenge to McKay, a file titled Why Chris Minns and Jamie Clements can never run the NSW Labor Party was circulated from the office of deputy Labor leader Yasmin Catley. Minns was disappointed with the lack of explanation or communication from McKay and Catley over the file circulation, and resigned from shadow cabinet on 26 May.[15] He was the second MP to resign from shadow cabinet in two days after shadow treasurer Walt Secord, a close supporter of Minns.[16] On 31 May 2021, after McKay resigned as party leader, Minns announced he would run for party leadership.[17] If Michael Daley and Minns had contested for party leadership, it would have been Minns’ third leadership contest and his second one versus Daley. Minns’ leadership bid was publicly supported by more than a dozen senior Labor MPs including Penny Sharpe, Ryan Park, Jihad Dib, and Prue Car.[18] On 4 June 2021, Michael Daley pulled out of the leadership contest, allowing Minns to be elected to the position of leader unopposed.[19]

Opposition Leader

[edit]
See also: Shadow Ministry of Chris Minns

In the 2023 NSW election campaign, Minns made election promises to invest further into public services.[20] He had been criticised for being reluctant to promise reform on money laundering in gambling,[21] however on 16 January Minns released a plan to reform gambling, which would ban donations from clubs (gambling organisations) to political parties and promises a cashless gaming card trial, which would last for 12 months and cover 500 of the approximately 86,480 (0.58%) pokies machines (slots).[22][23]

2023 election

[edit]
See also: Minns ministry

Minns led the Labor Party to victory at the 2023 New South Wales state election on 25 March, defeating the incumbent Liberal–National Coalition, returning Labor to power at the state level for the first time since 2011.[24] Despite winning the election, Labor did not win enough seats to govern in majority, but were able to form government with the support of three independents Alex Greenwich, Greg Piper and Joe McGirr.[25]

Premiership

[edit]

The Health Services Union accused the Minns government of being too slow to remove the 3 per cent limit on pay rises.[26]

Political views

[edit]

Minns is a member of Labor Right,[27] and was assistant secretary of the NSW Labor Party. He has been described as a centrist.[28]

In 2003 Chris Minns attended the Australia Israel Jewish Affairs Council (AIJAC) inaugural Rambam trip to Israel, at the time adviser to NSW Minister for Roads and Housing Carl Scully. Attending alongside Minns were former Prime Minister Scott Morrison, Bill Shorten and the Federal Opposition leader Simon Crean's foreign policy adviser Carl Ungerer.[29]

In his inaugural speech in the Legislative Assembly, Minns criticised the state government's sale of NSW's electricity assets and called for mandatory Mandarin Chinese lessons in New South Wales schools.[30] In 2019, Minns argued in favour for the legalisation of cannabis during a party meeting but has since walked back this position since becoming premier.[31] Minns opposed legislation that would enable voluntary euthanasia.[32]

Views on union influence in the Labor Party

[edit]

Additionally, Minns called for a reduction in union influence in the Labor Party in favour of "increasing representation of ordinary members of our party who have more diverse voices", stating that while trade unions were integral to the success and heritage of the Labor Party, the party also needs to represent those who are not in a trade union, and that will mean taking steps to reduce union control on Labor's conference floor.[33]

Bob Nanva, national secretary of the Rail, Tram and Bus Union, while acknowledging that Minns had been "an extraordinarily effective Assistant General Secretary of the ALP", rebuked him for being "seriously mistaken" on his views about unions.[34] Additionally, both Mark Buttigieg and NSW Labor Party secretary Jamie Clements disagreed with Minns' contention regarding unions.[35] By 2019, Minns reportedly no longer held those views, according to HSU NSW state secretary Gerard Hayes.[36]

See also

[edit]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ a b c Cormack, Lucy (6 June 2021). "Who is Chris Minns? NSW Labor's new leader wants to be the next Keating". The Sydney Morning Herald.
  2. ^ O'Doherty, James (15 July 2021). "Chris Minns will move into his electorate after selling family home". The Daily Telegraph.
  3. ^ Chancellor, Jonathan (23 August 2021). "New state Labor leader Chris Minns pays $1.7m for Kogarah home". news.com.au. Archived from the original on 22 June 2022.
  4. ^ "Mr (Chris) Christopher John MINNS, MP". Members of the Parliament of New South Wales. Retrieved 15 December 2019.
  5. ^ a b Ruby Cornish (25 March 2023). "Who is Chris Minns? What you need to know about the incoming NSW premier". Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved 29 March 2023.
  6. ^ Trembath, Murray (23 May 2019). "Minns says Labor needs 'new generation' leadership". St George & Sutherland Shire Leader. Retrieved 3 June 2021.
  7. ^ Trembath, Murray (23 May 2019). "Minns says Labor needs 'new generation' leadership". St George & Sutherland Shire Leader. Retrieved 3 June 2021.
  8. ^ "About Chris". www.chrisminns.com.au. Retrieved 3 June 2021.
  9. ^ Chris Minns (4 August 2023). "I'm a Bulldogs man and you don't change teams - but I couldn't say no to a jersey from these Juniors". Twitter. Retrieved 4 August 2023.
  10. ^ "NSW premier's father dies days after suffering heart attack". ABC News. 1 May 2024. Retrieved 6 May 2024.
  11. ^ "NSW Election 2015 – Kogarah". ABC News. March 2015. Retrieved 31 March 2015.
  12. ^ "NSW Labor elects paperboy turned lawyer Michael Daley as new leader". ABC News. 10 November 2018. Retrieved 10 November 2018.
  13. ^ "Jodi McKay wins NSW Labor leadership from Chris Minns after three-month process". ABC News. 29 June 2019.
  14. ^ "McKay unveils new Shadow Ministry". NSW Labor. July 2019.
  15. ^ Nguyen, Kevin; Collins, Antonette (26 May 2021). "Chris Minns quits NSW shadow ministry, Labor staffer sacked over 'dirt dossier'". ABC News. Archived from the original on 26 May 2021. Retrieved 26 May 2021.
  16. ^ Davies, Anne (26 May 2021). "NSW Labor in turmoil as Jodi McKay's leadership rival Chris Minns quits frontbench over dossier". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 26 May 2021. Retrieved 26 May 2021.
  17. ^ "Chris Minns officially enters NSW Labor leadership battle". ABC News. 31 May 2021. Retrieved 31 May 2021.
  18. ^ Turnbull, Tiffanie (3 June 2021). "Labor MPs rush to publicly support Minns". Retrieved 3 June 2021.
  19. ^ Raper, Ashleigh (4 June 2021). "Kogarah MP Chris Minns to be NSW Opposition Leader after Michael Daley pulls out". ABC News. Retrieved 4 June 2021.
  20. ^ "Labor's Fresh Start Plan for NSW". Chris Minns. Retrieved 11 February 2023.
  21. ^ Livingstone, Charles (21 December 2022). "NSW Pokies: Bipartisan support needed from Labor's Chris Minns on cashless gaming". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 11 February 2023.
  22. ^ Rabe, Tom (16 January 2023). "Labor to slash pokie numbers and back a mandatory cashless gaming trial". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 11 February 2023.
  23. ^ "Labor's cashless gaming trial to include 0.58% of all pokie machines as they release gambling policy". 6 News Australia. 17 January 2023. Retrieved 8 March 2023.
  24. ^ Rabe, Tom (25 March 2023). "'NSW has voted for change': NSW Labor returns from the wilderness". Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 26 March 2023.
  25. ^ Wade, Matt; Cormack, Lucy (27 March 2023). "Majority government in the balance as independents promise Labor supply". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 4 April 2023.
  26. ^ Raper, Asheligh (20 May 2023). "Chris Minns fends off fight with union boss, but more combatants are waiting in the wings". ABC News. Archived from the original on 19 June 2024. Retrieved 22 May 2023. But the Health Services Union has accused the Minns government of being too slow to remove the current 3 per cent limit on pay rises and negotiate new agreements before they expire at the end of June.
  27. ^ Martin, Lisa (29 June 2019). "Jodi McKay elected New South Wales Labor leader after tense meeting". The Guardian. Retrieved 27 May 2021.
  28. ^ "Australia's most powerful state: From NSW to Victoria which state wields the most power?". 7 August 2023.
  29. ^ Bard, Aviva (28 November 2003). "Eight Future Australian Leaders see for themselves". National Library of Australia Trove.
  30. ^ Read, Michael (4 June 2021). "Minns to lead NSW Labor after Daley bows out". Australian Financial Review. Retrieved 16 July 2022.
  31. ^ McGowan, Michael (17 April 2023). "'Regulate it': Minns once argued for legalised cannabis in NSW". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 30 May 2023.
  32. ^ McGowan, Michael (19 May 2022). "NSW passes voluntary assisted dying laws after marathon upper house debate". TheGuardian.com.
  33. ^ Napier-Raman, Kishor (4 June 2019). "The battle for NSW Labor". Crikey. Retrieved 16 July 2022.
  34. ^ "Work experience with real people is the cure for 'out of touch' pollies". SMH. 13 May 2015. Retrieved 23 March 2019.
  35. ^ Patty, Anna (28 May 2015). "Backlash grows over ALP's Chris Minns' anti-union push". The Sydney Morning Herald. Fairfax Media. Retrieved 16 July 2022.
  36. ^ "NSW Labor leadership hopeful in 'huge coup' as big unions swing their support". The Sydney Morning Herald. Fairfax Media. 29 May 2019. Retrieved 16 July 2022.
[edit]
Civic offices
Preceded by
Sandy Grekas
 Deputy Mayor of Hurstville
2007–2008 		Succeeded by
Philip Sansom
New South Wales Legislative Assembly
Preceded by Member for Kogarah
2015–present 		Incumbent
Political offices
Preceded by Leader of the Opposition of New South Wales
2021–2023 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Premier of New South Wales
2023–present 		Incumbent
Party political offices
Preceded by Leader of the Australian Labor Party (NSW Branch)
2021–present 		Incumbent
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