Luke Foley

Luke Foley
MP
37th Leader of the Opposition in New South Wales
Elections: 2015
Assumed office
5 January 2015
Premier Mike Baird
Gladys Berejiklian
Deputy Linda Burney
Michael Daley
Preceded by John Robertson
Leader of the Labor Party in New South Wales
Assumed office
5 January 2015
Deputy Linda Burney
Michael Daley
Preceded by John Robertson
Member of the New South Wales Legislative Council
In office
19 June 2010 – 6 March 2015
Preceded by Ian Macdonald
Member of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly for Auburn
Assumed office
28 March 2015
Preceded by Barbara Perry
Personal details
Born (1970-07-27) 27 July 1970[1]
Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
Nationality Australian
Political party Australian Labor Party
Spouse(s) Edel McKenna[2]
Children Three
Alma mater University of New South Wales
Website lukefoley.com.au

Luke Aquinas Foley (born 27 July 1970) is an Australian politician who serves as the Leader of the Opposition in the Parliament of New South Wales and as parliamentary leader of the New South Wales branch of the Australian Labor Party. Foley was a member of the New South Wales Legislative Council since 19 June 2010 until his resignation to contest the Legislative Assembly seat of Auburn at the 2015 New South Wales election.

Early years and education

Foley was born in Sydney and from the age of seven was raised solely by his mother.[3] In an interview conducted when he became NSW Opposition Leader, Foley stated his mother instilled in him a triple faith of “the Labor Party, the Catholic Church and the Eastern Suburbs Rugby League Club”.[2]

Foley was active in student representative politics at university and graduated with a Bachelor of Arts from the University of New South Wales, the first in his family to attend university.[3]

Luke is a keen cricketer. In 1999 he worked as an accredited Triple J cricket correspondent reporting from the Australian/West Indies series in the Caribbean. [4]

Career

Starting his working life while a student as a telemarketer for the Guide Dog Association of NSW 1988–90,[5] Foley became NSW President of the National Union of Students 1991,[5] and then worked in the office of Labor Senator Bruce Childs 1992–96.[5]

Between 1996 and 2000, he was a union organiser with the NSW branch of the Australian Services Union and became Secretary of that branch between 2000 and 2003. This involved representing the interests of charity and drug and alcohol rehabilitation workers. Referring to that period in his first speech in the NSW Parliament, Foley stated:

“For seven years I organised and represented workers predominantly working in the social and community services sector. These men and women work with the downtrodden, the excluded and the marginalised. They are ordinary workers who do extraordinary things. They are passionate and dedicated and they are underpaid and undervalued. What does it say about our values as a society when these men and women are among our lowest paid workers? Community workers make a difference every day. It is time we properly recognised them for the work they do.”[6]

A member of Labor's left faction, before his appointment to the Legislative Council, Foley was the assistant general secretary of the New South Wales Labor Party from 2003 to 2010.[5][7]

Luke is a self confessed sports nut.[8] He was a sportswriter for The Punch (Australia) from 2009. [9]

Political career

Foley was appointed to the Legislative Council to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of Ian Macdonald.[10] He describes himself as a "practising Catholic on the Left of politics"[11][12]

Foley voted in favour of same sex adoption bill in 2010 [13][14] and in 2015 announced his support behind federal legislation for same-sex marriage.[15] Foley said: "I have an open mind. I continue to talk to many people, including gay and lesbian friends of mine about this issue".[16][17]

Following the resignation of John Robertson as leader of the parliamentary Labor Party, Foley contested the leadership in the vote held on 5 January 2015. After the withdrawal of Michael Daley and Steve Whan as leadership contenders, Foley was elected unopposed.[18][19][20] He was endorsed as the Labor candidate for the safe Labor seat of Auburn at the 2015 state election, after the incumbent member Barbara Perry stood aside to allow him to transfer to the lower house from the Legislative Council.[21][22][23] He went on to win the seat, however, with a swing against his party in the electorate.[24]

Views

Foley has stated his values are "social democratic values":[6]

"I believe that governments should direct resources to overcome disadvantage. The sum of our individual decisions does not add up to the kind of society that we want to live in. I believe in a strong society where we owe obligations to each other. What gives us in the Labor Party moral purpose is our conviction that the fortunate have a responsibility to the unfortunate, that the strong should help the weak."
— Foley, delivering his inaugural speech to the Legislative Council of New South Wales, in 2010.

Personal life

Foley is married to Edel McKenna and they have three children.[2]

Luke is a member of the Summer Hill Seniors Cricket Club, a member of the Sydney Cricket Ground since 1992, and an executive member of the Victor Trumper Society. Luke is also a loyal supporter of the Eastern Suburbs Rugby League Club.[25]

Luke's other community activities include:

Foundation Member GWS Giants AFL team Member of the Friends of the Botanic Gardens Executive Member of the Victor Trumper Society Member of the Australian Services Union Member of the Australian Fabian Society Member of the Evatt Foundation

See also

References

  1. ↑ http://lukefoley.nationbuilder.com/aboutluke
  2. 1 2 3 "New Labor Party leader Luke Foley: How my single mum taught me ‘Labor values’". The Daily Telegraph. Australia. 4 January 2015. Retrieved 4 January 2015.
  3. 1 2 "NSW election 2015: A day on the campaign trail with Opposition Leader Luke Foley". ABC News. Australian Broadcasting Corporation. 4 Mar 2015.
  4. ↑ http://blogs.abc.net.au/nsw/2015/03/sunday-brunch-luke-foley.html
  5. 1 2 3 4 "The Hon. Luke FOLEY, MLC". Members of the Legislative Council. Parliament of New South Wales. 23 September 2014. Retrieved 23 December 2014.
  6. 1 2 "Inaugural speech of the Honourable Luke Foley" (PDF). Parliament of New South Wales. 1 September 2010. Retrieved 4 January 2015.
  7. ↑ Mitchell, Alex (6 June 2010). "The party was over long before 'Macca' jumped". The National Times. Fairfax Media. Archived from the original on 8 June 2010. Retrieved 3 July 2011.
  8. ↑ http://blogs.abc.net.au/nsw/2015/03/sunday-brunch-luke-foley.html
  9. ↑ https://mumbrella.com.au/with-the-punch-we-want-to-celebrate-journalism-6049
  10. ↑ "Labor announces Macdonald replacement". ABC News. Australia. 10 June 2010. Retrieved 14 June 2010.
  11. ↑ "Marriage Equality". NSW Hansard. Parliament of New South Wales. 31 May 2012.
  12. ↑ "Gay marriage motion passes in NSW upper house". The Daily Telegraph. Australia. 31 May 2012.
  13. ↑ http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/luke-foley-elected-nsw-labor-leader/news-story/683eed787c7f0c097d1b0f7f0c6063f4
  14. ↑ http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-01-05/dempster-luke-foley-just-made-the-nsw-election-interesting/6000902
  15. ↑ http://www.smh.com.au/nsw/nsw-state-election-2015/alp-leader-luke-foley-throws-his-support-behind-federal-legislation-for-samesex-marriage-20150218-13i9f1.html
  16. ↑ http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-01-05/new-nsw-opposition-leader-luke-foley-believes-alp-can-win-next-/6000986
  17. ↑ http://www.smh.com.au/nsw/new-nsw-alp-leader-luke-foley--im-not-a-privatisation-ideologue-20150105-12i742.html
  18. ↑ Simmonds, Kylie (30 December 2014). "Michael Foley pulls out of NSW Labor leadership race, paving way for Luke Foley to lead party". ABC News. Australia. Retrieved 31 December 2014.
  19. ↑ "Foley's rise shows meritocracy, not faceless men". The Sydney Morning Herald. 4 January 2015. Retrieved 4 January 2015.
  20. ↑ "New NSW Opposition Leader Luke Foley thinks Labor can win next state election". ABC News. Australia. 5 January 2015. Retrieved 5 January 2015.
  21. ↑ "NSW Labor leadership: Labor moves to install Foley into lower house hours after election as leader". The Sydney Morning Herald. 5 January 2015. Retrieved 5 January 2015.
  22. ↑ Wood, Alicia (7 January 2015). "Auburn MP Barbara Perry retires from Labor seat to make way for ‘future premier’ Luke Foley". The Australian. Retrieved 8 January 2015.
  23. ↑ "NSW Labor MP Barbara Perry withdraws from Auburn contest to make way for Opposition Leader Luke Foley". ABC News. Australia. 7 January 2015. Retrieved 7 January 2015.
  24. ↑ Nicole Hasham (30 March 2015). "NSW state election 2015: Ethnic dissent cost Luke Foley in Auburn". Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 31 March 2015.
  25. ↑ http://www.lukefoley.com.au/aboutluke
Political offices
Preceded by
John Robertson		 Leader of the Opposition in New South Wales
2015–present 		Incumbent
Party political offices
Preceded by
John Robertson		 Leader of the Labor Party in New South Wales
2015–present 		Incumbent
New South Wales Legislative Assembly
Preceded by
Barbara Perry		 Member for Auburn
2015–present 		Incumbent
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