Morris Iemma

The Honourable Morris Iemma
40th Premier of New South Wales Elections: 2007
In office 3 August 2005 – 5 September 2008
Deputy	John Watkins (2005-2008)
Preceded by	Bob Carr
Succeeded by	Nathan Rees
Constituency	Lakemba
Personal details
Born	21 July 1961 (1961-07-21) (age 50) Sydney, New South Wales
Political party	Australian Labor Party
Spouse(s)	Santina Raiti
Profession	Union official and adviser
Religion	Roman Catholic

Morris Iemma ( /ˈjɛmə/; born 21 July 1961), is a former Australian politician and 40th Premier of New South Wales, succeeding Bob Carr after he resigned on 3 August 2005. Iemma led the Australian Labor Party to victory in the 2007 election before resigning as Premier on 5 September 2008, and as a Member of Parliament on 19 September 2008.^[1]

Background

Iemma was born in Sydney, the only child of Giuseppe and Maria Iemma, migrants from Martone, Calabria, Italy. Maria Iemma worked in the clothing trade, and Giuseppe Iemma, a communist^[2][3] 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 now-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.

In 1997 Iemma married Santina Raiti, with whom he has four young children.

Iemma is a member of the dominant right-wing faction of the New South Wales branch of the Australian 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 environment and social security portfolios in the Bob Hawke and Paul Keating federal governments.

Parliamentary career

In 1991 Iemma was elected to the New South Wales Legislative Assembly for the seat of Hurstville^[4], defeating a sitting Liberal member, with the slogan "A local who listens". 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 held Lakemba until his resignation in 2008.^[4]

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).^[5] 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".^[5]

Premier

Morris Iemma gives a speech at Liverpool Hospital on 2 February 2006

First ministry

See also: Iemma ministry (2005–2007)

When Bob Carr announced his intention to retire as New South Wales Premier on 3 August 2005, 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, the Governor of New South Wales, on 3 August.^[6]

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.^[6] 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.^[6] 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.^[6] 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.^[7]

Despite its relatively short term in office, the Iemma Government faced significant service delivery problems in transport, health care and future water supplies. Sydney newspapers consistently asserted that Iemma's government was more interested in "spin" than policy development.^[8] Other embarrassments beset his premiership. For example, in February 2006, while awaiting the start of a COAG media conference in Canberra, while chatting to Victorian Premier Steve Bracks and not realising cameras were operating, Iemma 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."^[9]

Nevertheless, in the months leading up to his first election as Labor leader, he maintained a comfortable lead in various opinion polls and was re-elected in the March 2007 election.^[10] Labor was returned with 52 seats compared to 35 for the Coalition.

Second ministry

See also: Iemma ministry (2007–2008)

On 15 July 2007, after several failures on the NSW rail system, Iemma claimed that the government was at war with rail unions.^[11] In November 2007 the Iemma government lifted the ban on genetically modified canola production and started the process of privatising the state's electricity system. On 3 May 2008 the New South Wales ALP's State Conference rejected, by 702 to 107 votes, the Iemma government's plans to privatise the state's electricity system.^[12]

Resignation

On 5 September 2008, Iemma announced his resignation as Premier after losing the support of his caucus faction over the details of a proposed cabinet reshuffle sparked by the resignation of Deputy Premier John Watkins. Iemma had proposed that five other Ministers also depart, including Treasurer Michael Costa and Health Minister Reba Meagher. Iemma's faction, Centre Unity, supported the sacking of the Treasurer but not the other four Ministers. Faced with this rejection, Iemma resigned.^[13] The caucus unanimously selected Nathan Rees as his Premier in his stead.^[14]

Iemma resigned from parliament on 19 September 2008, ending his 17-year political career, and forcing a by-election in the seat of Lakemba.^[1]

In May 2009, Iemma was admitted to hospital suffering from an acute brain inflammation—viral meningitis. As a result, he lost movement in his legs. He is undergoing physiotherapy with the goal of recovering their full use.^[15]

References

1. ^ ^{a b} Salusinszky, Imre (19 September 2008). "Morris Iemma quits, forcing fourth by-election". The Australian. http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,24370116-601,00.html. Retrieved 19 September 2008. 
2. ^ Marr, David (17 March 2007). "Suburban son rises". The Sydney Morning Herald. http://www.smh.com.au/news/state-election-2007/suburban-son-rises/2007/03/16/1173722745531.html?page=fullpage#contentSwap1. Retrieved 18 March 2007. 
3. ^ Totaro, Paola (21 April 2003). "Out of the shadows". The Sydney Morning Herald. http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2003/04/20/1050777162011.html. Retrieved 26 May 2008. 
4. ^ ^{a b} "Lakemba - 2008 New South Wales By-elections". ABC News (Australia). 2008-10-30. http://www.abc.net.au/elections/nsw/2008/byelections/lakemba.htm. Retrieved 2011-04-22. 
5. ^ ^{a b} Benson, Simon; Hildebrand, Joe (2008-09-05). "Morris Iemma quits politics to be husband and father". The Daily Telegraph (Australia). http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/indepth/morris-iemma-quits-politics-to-be-husband-and-father/story-e6frewor-1111117403219. Retrieved 2011-04-22. 
6. ^ ^{a b c d} Davies, Anne; Pearlman, Johnathan (2005-07-30). "Introducing your new premier". The Sydney Morning Herald. http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/introducing-your-new-premier/2005/07/29/1122144024500.html. Retrieved 2011-04-22. 
7. ^ "Marrickville 2007 By-election". ABC News (Australia). 11 April 2007. http://www.abc.net.au/elections/nsw/2007/guide/marr.htm. Retrieved 20 December 2010. 
8. ^ "Failure to shoot straight derails Iemma". nineMSN. http://news.ninemsn.com.au/article.aspx?id=164307. 
9. ^ "Anger good, swearing bad: Iemma". The Age (Australia). 11 February 2006. http://www.theage.com.au/news/national/anger-good-swearing-bad-iemma/2006/02/11/1139542438523.html. 
10. ^ "Iemma 'hopeful' of victory". Sydney Morning Herald. 24 March 2007. http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/iemma-hopeful-of-victory/2007/03/24/1174597933540.html. 
11. ^ Benson, Simon (18 July 2007). "Rail unions under pressure". The Daily Telegraph (Australia). http://www.news.com.au/dailytelegraph/story/0,22049,22091533-5001021,00.html. 
12. ^ "NSW electricity privatisation bid rejected". ABC News (Australia). 3 May 2008. http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2008/05/03/2234589.htm. 
13. ^ Smith, Alexandra; Robins, Brian (5 September 2008). "NSW Premier Morris Iemma resigns". The Sydney Morning Herald. http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/lightning-strike-asbr-iemma-forced-to-go/2008/09/05/1220121483704.html. Retrieved 5 September 2008. 
14. ^ Smith, Alexandra; Robins, Brian (5 September 2008). "Nathan Rees confirmed as new NSW Premier". The Sydney Morning Herald. http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/nathan-rees-confirmed-as-nsw-premier/2008/09/05/1220121494217.html. Retrieved 5 September 2008. 
15. ^ Silmalis, Linda (28 May 2009). "Paralysed Iemma fights to walk again". Daily Telegraph (Australia). http://www.news.com.au/dailytelegraph/story/0,22049,25699888-5001021,00.html. Retrieved 28 June 2009. 

External links

• Morris Iemma's official parliamentary profile
• Profile of Morris Iemma from The Sydney Morning Herald

Parliament of New South Wales
Preceded by Guy Yeomans	Member for Hurstville 1991 – 1999	District abolished
Preceded by Tony Stewart	Member for Lakemba 1999 – 2008	Succeeded by Robert Furolo
Political offices
Preceded by Craig Knowles	Minister for Health 2003 – 2005	Succeeded by John Hatzistergos
Preceded by Bob Carr	Premier of New South Wales 2005 – 2008	Succeeded by Nathan Rees
Party political offices
Preceded by Bob Carr	Leader of the Australian Labor Party in New South Wales 2005 – 2008	Succeeded by Nathan Rees

Persondata
Name	Iemma, Morris
Alternative names
Short description	Australian politician and Premier of New South Wales
Date of birth	21 July 1961
Place of birth	Sydney
Date of death
Place of death