Morris Iemma
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Morris Iemma (born 21 July, 1961), Australian politician, is the Premier of New South Wales. He took office on 3 August, 2005 following the resignation of Bob Carr.
Background
Iemma was born in Sydney, the only child of Giuseppe and Maria Iemma, migrants from Calabria, Italy. Maria Iemma worked in the clothing trade, and Giuseppe Iemma, a communist supporter in Italy, worked as a machine labourer. Morris joined the Australian Labor Party when he was 16. He was educated at state schools in Sydney, including the recently closed Narwee Boys' High School, and has an economics degree from the University of Sydney and a law degree from the University of Technology, Sydney.
Iemma is a member of the dominant right-wing faction of the New South Wales Labor Party. 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 held the portfolios of environment and social security in the Hawke and Keating governments.
Parliamentary career
In 1991 Iemma was elected to the New South Wales Legislative Assembly for the seat of Hurstville, defeating a sitting Liberal member. His slogan was: "A local who listens", and his campaign director, Tony Burke, says that "[I] don't think he's has ever moved away from that". When the seat of Hurstville was abolished in 1999, he won a tough pre-selection battle for the safe seat of Lakemba, which included part of the old seat of Hurstville. Iemma has held Lakemba since.
Iemma was Minister for Public Works and Services and Minister Assisting the Premier on Citizenship (1999 - 2003), and as Minister for Sport and Recreation (2001 - 2003), and was Minister for Health (2003 - 2005). His tenure as Health Minister was generally free of major controversy, although he has said of the Health portfolio: "it is one of the biggest and most difficult jobs in government".
In 1997 Morris Iemma married Santina Raiti, with whom he has four young children.
Premier
When Bob Carr announced his intention to retire as New South Wales Premier from 3 August, Iemma immediately announced his candidacy to succeed him as leader of the NSW Labor Party and thus as Premier. Police Minister Carl Scully was also a candidate, but on 29 July he withdrew. Iemma was the only candidate when the Labor Caucus met on 2 August to elect a new leader. He was formally appointed by Professor Marie Bashir, AC, the Governor of New South Wales, on 3 August.
Iemma immediately faced a number of resignations. Deputy Premier and Treasurer Andrew Refshauge and senior minister Craig Knowles, once considered a potential leader himself, both declared they would leave politics. Iemma took the Treasury portfolio for himself. Among his first policy moves as new Premier, Iemma announced the immediate repealing of the vendor tax (a tax on investment property) that was introduced by the Carr government in 2003.
Opinion polls in August showed that Labor under Iemma's leadership was maintaining the lead over the Liberal opposition it had enjoyed under Carr, despite Iemma's relatively low profile. His short-term position was improved by the sudden resignation of Liberal leader John Brogden. This was seen in the results of the by-elections on 17 September caused by the resignation from Parliament of Carr, Refshauge and Knowles.
Labor retained all three seats - Maroubra (Carr's seat) very easily, Macquarie Fields (Knowles's seat) comfortably, despite a substantial swing to the Liberals, and Marrickville (Refshauge's seat) despite a strong challenge from the Australian Greens. In Marrickville, where the Labor candidate was Education Minister Carmel Tebbutt (switching from the Legislative Council), the Labor primary vote increased in the absence of a Liberal Party candidate.
Outbursts
In February 2006, New South Wales Premier Morris Iemma while awaiting the start of a COAG media conference in Canberra, was chatting to Victorian Premier Steve Bracks. Not realising cameras were operating he was recorded as saying "Today? This fuckwit who's the new CEO of the Cross City Tunnel has ... been saying what controversy? There is no controversy."[link] The exchange referred to the newly appointed CEO of a recently-opened tollroad within Sydney.
External link
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