Well there we have it folks: Chris Minns from the Labor party has won the New South Wales state election by a bloody landslide over Liberal’s Dominic Perrottet!!
With excitement booming at Labor HQ, Minns was given the most warm welcome by Prime Minister Anthony Albanese who gave an impassioned speech about the new NSW premier.
“[Minns is] a leader with vision, passion and integrity,” Albanese said.
“A leader whose instinct is to always bring people together.”
Then Chris Minns came to the stage and opened his victory speech by acknowledging how this election campaign was done with integrity from both sides of government.
“This election campaign perhaps uniquely was a model of respect and civility, and neither party took the low road, neither political party took the low blow,” Minns said.
“I think it can be a model for the way democracy is done right across this country.
“Now, I can’t say that every election campaign in the future will be conducted the same way. But from now on, no one will be able to say that it can’t be.”
Unfortunately though, Minns declined doing a shoey when asked after his speech.
Thank you New South Wales! pic.twitter.com/60EIOj66FM
— Chris Minns (@ChrisMinnsMP) March 25, 2023
As for Perrottet, he conceded by asking the people of NSW to stand behind Chris Minns as premier. The former premier also announced that he would be stepping down as Liberal leader in favour of a “fresh start” for the party.
“I ask everybody across New South Wales, whatever your political persuasion, to get behind him,” Perrottet said.
“Because when New South Wales goes well, our country goes well.”
It’s the first time Labor has been in power since 2011, so it’s a fair indication of how the culture is changing in favour of more left-leaning politics. Now, nearly every state in Australia is Labor lead, the only exception being Tasmania.
But even having Labor in government nationally and in nearly all states and territories is a feat in itself. The only time in history Labor was in power for both federal and all state/territory governments was between 2007-2008 (the KRudd era).
Post-COVID there has definitely been a visible shift in attitudes towards government. Many hailed Labor leaders like Daniel Andrews and Mark McGowan as handling the pandemic well and with a united party front (of course that’s up to your own interpretation), as opposed to NSW Liberal premiers like Gladys Berejiklian (ex-NSW premier) and of course, Dominic Perrottet.
The Liberal party is also proving time and time again that they are behind on the issues that matter to voters. In a 2022 study by Climate Compass, it found that concern for climate change was a major reason why voters switched to Labor over the Liberal party in the federal election.
Well done Chris Minns! We love to see a progressive premier with a chiseled jawline (sorry not sorry).
