In case of power failure, send for a sparkie
Sydney Morning Herald
Thursday March 31, 2011
"IT IS good to be a rebel and it is good to win." So declared John Robertson delivering his maiden speech to the NSW upper house in 2008.Today the former electrician and union boss will emerge as one of the few winners from Labor's electoral rout, having pulled off a risky transition to the lower house and being certain to land the much diminished prize of the Labor leadership.But whether he can lay claim to "rebel" status any more is doubtful: Mr Robertson was anointed as the head office candidate months ago, backed as Kristina Keneally's successor by the party's Sussex Street headquarters and the state union movement he once led.The perception that he's the product of a backroom fix will shadow the early months of his leadership in the same way that Ms Keneally's depiction as a "puppet" of factional warlords cast a shadow over hers.It's not a good look for a party trying to portray itself as making a fresh start.The former prime minister Paul Keating, former premier Morris Iemma and former senior minister Frank Sartor have attacked Mr Robertson's credibility and morality, citing his role in spearheading union opposition to electricity privatisation and to Mr Iemma's premiership in 2008.Mr Iemma said yesterday that despite undertakings about reaching a compromise on electricity before the party's conference that year, Mr Robertson never delivered."I never found him consistent at any time. It was like wrestling with smoke," Mr Iemma said, adding that he was not sure if this was because of Mr Robertson's "duplicity or incapacity"."I saw no evidence that he was capable of delivering solutions to complex issues."He queried why Mr Robertson was the only candidate in today's leadership ballot when others were more suitable for the job.Mr Robertson, however, has support on the Left and Right of the ALP, despite being a "man of the Right" as one party insider put it. This reflects his efforts to bridge the gulf between right- and left-wing unions when he was head of Unions NSW.Labor's campaign spokesman and leading left-winger, Luke Foley, argued yesterday that Mr Robertson was a "principled Labor man committed to authentic Labor values" and that it was Mr Keating and Mr Iemma who had been out of step with mainstream opinion on electricity privatisation, not Mr Robertson.The former deputy premier John Watkins, another left-winger, said Mr Robertson had opposed the electricity sale in 2008 because of the overwhelming view of his union base at the time."He's honest, he's upfront, you never mistake where you are with John Robertson," Mr Watkins said, adding that the new leader would outgrow his union boss image. "John's got a blank page in front of him. He's going to write his story. If he writes that story well, things like that won't matter."Mr Foley said "the challenge for every leader is to present the whole person. John is an electrician who's pulled himself up by his bootstraps to high office and [as leader] those qualities will be on display to the people of NSW."Mr Sartor said Mr Robertson needed to "clear up his role in bringing down Iemma".John Cameron Robertson, 48 Married, two children from first marriage, step-child from second marriage. Co-founder of Labor for Refugees. Education Denistone East Primary and Ryde High schools. Left school at 16 to become an apprentice electrical fitter. 1986 Organiser for the Electrical Trades Union. 1991 Industrial officer for the Labor Council of NSW, later renamed Unions NSW. Sep 2001 - Oct 2008 Secretary of Unions NSW. Key player in the campaign against John Howard‚„s Work Choices legislation. Oct 2008 Appointed to the NSW Legislative Council, to replace Michael Costa, who resigned. Oct 2008 - Mar 2011 Served under Premiers Rees and Keneally as minister for energy, minister for climate change, minister for transport among others. Mar 2011 Wins the NSW Legislative Assembly seat of Blacktown
© 2011 Sydney Morning Herald
