User:Rebecca/Drafts/Morris Iemma

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Morris Iemma (born July 21, 1961) is an Australian politician. He has been an Australian Labor Party member of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly since May 1991, representing the suburban Sydney electorates of Hurstville (1991-1999) and Lakemba (1999-present). He is the current Minister for Health, but will succeed Bob Carr as Premier of New South Wales on August 3, 2005.

Iemma was born in Sydney, the son of Giuseppe and Maria Iemma, migrants from Italy. His father was a Communist in Italy, but Morris joined the youth wing of the Australian Labor Party when he was 16. He was educated at state schools in Sydney and has an economics degree from Sydney University and a law degree from the University of Technology, Sydney. From 1984 to 1986 he was an official with the Commonwealth Bank Employees Union. He then worked as an adviser to Senator Graham Richardson who had environment and social security portfolios in the Hawke and Keating governments. He is believed to be still close to Graham Richardson.

Iemma made the decision to move into politics himself in 1990, and initially succeeded in winning ALP preselection to contest the seat of Georges River, against sitting Liberal MP Terry Griffiths. However, Iemma was later called upon to contest the nearby seat of Hurstville, which was notionally Labor after a redistribution, but was being contested by Liberal MP Phil White, whose seat of Earlwood had been abolished in a redistribution. It was expected to be one of the closest races of the election, but after doornocking 10,000 homes, Iemma comfortably defeated White, achieving a 3% swing.

Iemma tended to be a rather low-profile figure in his first term as an opposition MP, and in 1994, was ranked as the fourth-quietest MP in the Assembly, although there was one exception when, in the same year, he leaked a New South Wales Police report in the Assembly about poor conditions in the state's Police Academy, which caused some embarrassment for the government. However, as with his mentor Richardson, Iemma tended to be actively involved behind the scene, setting up the 'Terrigals' sub-faction of the right-wing Labor Unity faction, along with Carl Scully and Eddie Obeid. Iemma's reclusiveness in public was noted by the media, and it was widely predicted in the lead-up to the 1995 election that he would face a serious challenge to retain his seat. However, these early assertions were proved very wrong when after a strong campaign, Iemma won a swing in his favour of nearly 5%.

Despite his low profile, Iemma was promoted after the election when the ALP won office, with new Premier Bob Carr appointing him as Parliamentary Secretary to the Attorney-General and Minister for Industrial Relations.

• anti-pokies and euthanasia (Oct-Nov 1996)
• spoke out on police reforms (Nov 1996) (tied up in factional issues, with Police Minister Whelan being one of the Trogs)
• branch-stacking war between Stewart and Iemma; fear that one of their seats would be abolished, so recruiting loyal members in adjacent electorates (Dec 1996)
• increasingly bloody battle through February 1999
• after 1999 election; made Public Works and Services Minister, Minister Assisting the Premier on Citizenship, after factional dealings
  • Walsh Bay
  • Luna Park
  • KKK crackdown
  • construction projects post-Olympics
  • specifically targeted by the Liberals as easy pickings
  • NSW Conservatorium of Music

• • up to Aug 22, 2000