With just three months until the NSW election, newly anointed Labor leader Luke Foley is confident he can stage a major upset and defeat the Baird government.
Mr Foley, 44, was elected unopposed ALP state leader on Monday, replacing John Robertson who quit after admitting writing a letter on behalf of Sydney siege gunman Man Haron Monis in 2011.
Shortly after clinching his party's top job, Mr Foley insisted he could do a lot in the next 12 weeks to close the gap between himself and popular Premier Mike Baird.
"Watch this space," Mr Foley told reporters.
"I am in this to win it.
"I'm a big sports fan as many of you know and I've seen some upsets in my time."
A Labor victory in March would be nothing short of a political miracle considering the opposition holds just 23 seats in the lower house of parliament - well short of the 47 needed to govern - and considering Mr Baird's popularity in the polls.
The government has been quick to attack Mr Foley, with Treasurer Andrew Constance saying he was "just another union boss" installed by faceless men in the ALP's head office.
Mr Foley, who is an upper house MP, has pledged to lead a Labor party of solutions and "never a mere party of protest".
He has slammed the Baird government's plan to partially privatise the state's electricity distribution network, denying the premier's claim that it will raise $20 billion.
But Mr Foley insists he is not an "ideologue" when it comes to privatisation, suggesting he could be open to supporting other asset sell-offs.
He said he would rejig his shadow ministry in the coming days but said Mr Robertson had turned down his offer to be included in his frontbench.
"I think we can all respect that John has had a difficult time in the last couple of weeks and we ought to respect his decision to take a spell out of the frontline," he said.
Meanwhile, Mr Foley, who is a devout Catholic, said he was open-minded on gay marriage. He has voted against same-sex marriage in the past.
Mr Foley's elevation to the leadership was widely expected after his main rival, shadow treasurer Michael Daley, pulled out of the running last week when ALP head office threw its support behind Mr Foley.
He will now try to switch from the upper house of parliament to the lower house and is expected to push to become the ALP's candidate for the safe western Sydney seat of Auburn, held by Labor's Barbara Perry.
Labor's national executive has reportedly already cancelled the existing preselection for Auburn and called a new contest.
Mr Foley was joined by his wife Edel and children Aoife, Niamh and Patrick on Monday.
Share
