Michael Daley Has Stepped Down As NSW Labor Leader, Just Two Days After An Embarrassing Defeat
NSW Labor will vote on a new leader after the federal election.
Well, it’s time to say goodbye to Michael Daley…for now. After leading NSW Labor to an embarrassing defeat at the state election on the weekend, the party leader has agreed to step aside until the federal election is done and dusted, at which point the party will vote on a new leader.
And while Daley says he’ll be tossing his hat into the ring when that vote comes, there’s no guarantee he’ll be re-elected, so we might as well say goodbye now.
After all, Daley has demonstrated a real capacity for repelling votes in the last week, after he was caught on camera claiming that Asian immigrants are “taking the jobs” of young Australians.
“Our young children will flee and who are they being replaced with? They are being replaced by young people from typically Asia with PhDs,” he said in the video, which was recorded in September.
“I don’t want to sound xenophobic, it’s not a xenophobic thing, it’s an economic question.”
Please let his job be taken by an Asian with a PhD https://t.co/WBJxg1P78n
— Ketan Joshi (@KetanJ0) March 25, 2019
Daley standing aside means that the NSW Labor party will be without an official leader until after the federal election, though current deputy Penny Sharpe will be stepping up as interim leader in the meantime.
The vote on Daley’s replacement is being delayed until after the federal election in May so that Labor can at least try to focus its energy on campaigning. As Daley put it this afternoon, holding the vote now would be “an unnecessary distraction from the task of electing a Shorten Labor Government in a few weeks’ time”.
That means we won’t know who’s running for the position until late May, as Labor members have been cautioned not to comment on the state leadership until a later date. Once the federal election is over, the new NSW Labor leader will be elected by a ballot of the rank and file membership.
NSW Labor leader Michael Daley says he will stand aside until after the federal election – "the interim Leader will be my very capable Deputy, Penny Sharpe” – and he will contest a leadership ballot when it is held pic.twitter.com/QWi5rqoXCn
— Josh Butler (@JoshButler) March 25, 2019
Daley stepping aside comes just one day after he insisted that he would continue to lead the party. Life comes at you fast.