FACTS ON CHRIS MINNS AND JODI MCKAY, THE CONTENDERS FOR THE NEXT LEADER OF NSW LABOR
CHRIS MINNS
* Born September 17, 1979 (age 39)
* Married with three children
* Joined the ALP at 18 and became the president of NSW Young Labor
* Studied at Princeton University
* Former deputy mayor of Hurstville City Council
* Elected Member for Kogarah in Sydney's south in 2015 and became opposition water spokesman in 2016
* Said he "was never interested in politics" and only interested in the Labor Party in inaugural speech and suggested Mandarin be taught to all NSW schoolchildren to take advantage of the Asian century
* Also used maiden speech to call for a reduction in "union control" of Labor
* Has outlined his priorities during the leadership campaign as building livable cities, taking action on climate change - with strategies including the establishment of a public renewable energy company - and building a strong and versatile economy.
JODI MCKAY
* Born August 16, 1969 (age 49)
* Lives in Ashfield in Sydney's inner west with her husband
* Has a Master of Public Administration from the University of Sydney
* Worked as a journalist at Nine Network's NBN for 15 years before leaving in 2002 to work in corporate communications
* Elected the member for Newcastle in 2007
* Held several ministerial portfolios including tourism, women, commerce and small business before losing her seat in the 2011 election
* Returned to parliament at the 2015 election in the seat of Strathfield
* Said in her maiden speech as Strathfield MP that she was motivated to run again by a desire to help restore trust in NSW politics, put into practice her principles of social justice and contribute to Labor forming government
* Has said that reaching out to rural NSW, western Sydney and multicultural communities would be a key priority under her leadership, and also singled out education policy as a critical issue
