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Hon.Shaoquett Moselmane Hon.Kristina Keneally Hon.John Robertson
Honourable
Shaoquett Moselmane’s Speech in NSW Parliament about State Election Result
(The Hon.Shaoquett Moselmane,
First Australian of Arabic-Lebanese-Muslim MP delivered this speech on Thursday,
09 June 2011)
26 MARCH
2011-ELECTION RESULT
Page: 206
The Hon. SHAOQUETT MOSELMANE [4.33 p.m.]: On 26 March 2011 New South Wales Labor
saw a historic defeat following one of the toughest election campaigns in New
South Wales history, sweeping out many hardworking and committed Labor members.
Even with concerted efforts, there was no last-minute reprieve, no late
face-saving swing back and no magic wand. New South Wales voters showed no
mercy, and no-one expected them to do so. Even some Labor supporters were
disgruntled enough to give their local members the flick, and they did. They
delivered our 16-year-old Labor Government the defeat that many believed we
deserved. Today the New South Wales
parliamentary Labor Party is reduced to a rump, leaving us with 20 seats in a
93-seat Parliament.
This has profound implications for the future of not only the Labor Party but also the people of New South Wales, giving the Coalition government for a number of years to come. Many commentators did not hold back in telling us why we were hammered. In a nutshell, it was partly due to party disunity and disengagement with our communities. Premier Keneally summed it up well when she said that we walked away from our supporters; they did not walk away from us. The people of New South Wales had enough and simply responded accordingly. However, the electorate recognised that there is a need to maintain a working Opposition and, thanks in part to the electorate, the Australian Labor Party [ALP] has been spared greater misery. Had the Australian Labor Party secured The Greens' preferences in the lower House, a few more of our members could have been saved—Kevin Greene leaps to mind, as does Alan Ashton, among others. Had it not been for the perseverance and dedication of the former Premier, the Hon. Kristina Keneally, the party would have suffered an even greater blow to the extent that Labor would have retained no more than 13 seats in the Legislative Assembly. Premier Keneally's energy, determination and will to fight in the face of depressing polls won the hearts and minds of many voters across the State, and as a result gave the party's rank and file and those who believed in the party renewed energy and a will to fight on.
Kristina Keneally must be congratulated, and so too our young and energetic party officials led by General Secretary Sam Dastyari and the party executive, all of whom worked tirelessly with the support of unions, Young Labor and the true believers in the rank and file of our party. All showed discipline and determination, and were inspirational in their tireless commitment to the Labor cause. To regain the trust of our party supporters, let alone our constituency, we must all be sincere in listening to their concerns and addressing them. We have an obligation to address the needs of the poor, the unemployed, the workers, small business owners and disfranchised members of our community.
We must ensure that we protect them from the creeping rise in the cost of living and ensure that housing remains affordable. We must ensure that our children are provided with better health care and education, and a better future. We must focus on the needs of the disadvantaged groups and the disabled members of our society and provide them with better disability support and protections. Our Opposition leader now has the task of keeping the Coalition Government in check and keeping it honest, transparent and focused on the demands and needs of the people of New South Wales. The Leader of the Opposition, Mr John Robertson, has the monumental task of rebuilding Labor, and he has our full support to win government again. Bob Carr did it. He spent seven years as the New South Wales Opposition leader, rebuilding Labor's base, before he won the premiership. John Robertson has the energy and the will to do the same. For Labor, it will be a long road back to power, but we will be fighting every step of the way.
The Hon. Shaoquett
Moselmane MLC
Parliament of New South Wales
Parliament House
Macquarie St, Sydney NSW 2000 Australia.
