Jodi McKay

Jodi Leyanne McKay (born 16 August 1969) is an Australian politician, who has been the Leader of the Opposition in the Parliament of New South Wales since June 2019. She is a member of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly, representing Strathfield for the Labor Party since 2015, having previously represented Newcastle from 2007 until her defeat at the 2011 election. Between 2008 and 2011, McKay held a number of junior ministerial responsibilities in the Rees and Keneally governments, including serving as the Minister for the Hunter, Tourism, Small Business, Science and Medical Research, Commerce, and Women, and Minister Assisting the Minister for Health (Cancer).

Jodi McKay

39th Leader of the Opposition in New South Wales
Assumed office
29 June 2019
PremierGladys Berejiklian
DeputyYasmin Catley
Preceded byMichael Daley
Leader of the New South Wales Labor Party
Assumed office
29 June 2019
DeputyYasmin Catley
Preceded byMichael Daley
Ministerial positions
Minister for Tourism
In office
8 September 2008  28 March 2011
PremierNathan Rees
Kristina Keneally
Preceded byMatt Brown
Succeeded byGeorge Souris
Minister for the Hunter
In office
8 September 2008  28 March 2011
PremierNathan Rees
Kristina Keneally
Preceded byMichael Costa
Succeeded byMike Gallacher
Minister for Science and Medical Research
In office
11 November 2008  28 March 2011
PremierNathan Rees
Kristina Keneally
Preceded byTony Stewart
Succeeded byJillian Skinner
Minister for Women
In office
8 December 2008  28 March 2011
PremierNathan Rees
Kristina Keneally
Preceded byVerity Firth
Succeeded byPru Goward
Member of the New South Wales Parliament
for Strathfield
Assumed office
22 March 2015
Preceded byCharles Casuscelli
Majority4,274 (5.0%)
Member of the New South Wales Parliament
for Newcastle
In office
24 March 2007  26 March 2011
Preceded byBryce Gaudry
Succeeded byTim Owen
Personal details
Born (1969-08-16) 16 August 1969
Gloucester, New South Wales[1]
Political partyLabor
Spouse(s)
Stephen Fenn
(m. 2009)
ProfessionPolitician
TV news presenter
WebsiteOfficial website

Early years and background

McKay began her career as a journalist, eventually becoming a news anchor for NBN Television. She was among the first Australian news presenters to cover the September 11 attacks in the United States.[2] She later entered the private sector in corporate communications and marketing. McKay also served on the Board of Hunter Medical Research Institute, the University of Newcastle Research Associates and Hunter Manufacturers' Association, prior to entering politics.[1]

Political career

McKay was installed as Labor's candidate for Newcastle over the sitting member Bryce Gaudry, after Premier Morris Iemma intervened to ensure her selection.[3] The controversy around the selection led to around 130 members of the Newcastle ALP branches, then the largest in the state, leaving or being expelled.[4]

The subsequent election became a tight three-way contest between McKay, Gaudry, running as an independent, and the independent Newcastle Lord Mayor John Tate, with McKay winning on Gaudry's preferences.[5]

In April 2008, the NSW Greens were critical of McKay for failing to declare a political donation from a property developer group, Buildev, which was owned by Nathan Tinkler, to help pay for printing costs during her campaign. Buildev declared $50,000 in electoral donations to McKay, but McKay only declared a $1,000 donation from Buildev. At the time, Buildev was seeking support from the Minister for Planning, Frank Sartor, for a development at Medowie, near Newcastle Airport.[6] McKay denied knowledge of the donation. The donation was made to Labor's New South Wales head office. In 2011, following a controversial proposal by another Tinkler company, Newcastle Ports, to build a coal loader at the port, McKay declined to meet company representatives, citing her need to remain uninvolved in the process.[7]

In September 2008, McKay was appointed to cabinet as the Minister for Tourism and Minister for the Hunter. She immediately distanced herself from the style of her predecessor Michael Costa, and committed to greater engagement with local government and community groups.[8] Her appointment was welcomed by local tourism and business groups, including the Hunter Chamber of Commerce.[9] McKay was also appointed as the Minister for Science and Medical Research, Minister assisting on Health, Minister for Commerce, Minister for Small Business, and Minister for Women.

In 2011, McKay was reaffirmed as the Labor candidate for Newcastle by the party's national executive. At the 2011 election, McKay recorded a 31.0% share of the primary vote, her Liberal opponent received 36.4%, Tate had 11.5% and the Greens 14.6%. On a two-party preferred basis that translated into 52.4% for the Liberal's Tim Owen and 47.6% for McKay.

In 2014, McKay gave evidence before the Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) that she was asked to accept an alleged bribe and reported the matter to the NSW Police, the ICAC and the Election Funding Authority.[10][11] McKay told the Independent Commission Against Corruption that Tinkler had offered to bankroll her 2011 election campaign, in exchange for her support of his $1 billion coal loader project. Ms McKay gave evidence that she reported Mr Tinkler's alleged bribe offer to police, ICAC, the Electoral Commission and the Electoral Funding Authority. McKay told him she could not accept his money because he was a banned donor.[12] The ICAC inquiry revealed that after McKay knocked back the alleged bribe, Tinkler's Buildev company, her colleague and senior Labor MP Joe Tripodi, and former Labor staffer Ann Wills, were involved in a pamphlet smear campaign that she believed contributed to her election loss. McKay was in tears in the ICAC witness box as confirmation of what she had long suspected came to light—"they could not control me and they did not want me in the seat."[13]

Career during political hiatus

After her election defeat, McKay held an executive role with Family Planning NSW and was a non-executive director of both Australian Science Innovations and Epilepsy Action Australia.[14]

After the first ICAC hearing, McKay said she would never return to politics.[15] However, in October 2014, McKay was installed as the Labor candidate for the seat of Strathfield for the next state election[16] and, following her endorsement, was quoted as saying that she realised "if you want change, it has to come from within".[17]

In January 2015, although she was not a member of Parliament, Leader of the Opposition Luke Foley appointed McKay to the shadow ministry as opposition planning spokeswoman.[18][19][20]

Return to politics

At the 2015 state election, McKay was elected as the member for Strathfield, with an 8.2% swing to Labor. In April 2015, she was appointed as the Shadow Minister for Police and Roads, Maritime and Freight. In 2016, she was promoted to Shadow Minister for Transport and Shadow Minister for Roads, Maritime and Freight. In 2017, she was preselected again as the Labor candidate for Strathfield for the 2019 state election, winning the seat with 55.1% on a two-party-preferred basis.[21]

Leader of the Opposition

Following Labor's defeat in the 2019 election, the party leader, Michael Daley, resigned, and McKay expressed interest in running for the leadership. A leadership election was held in June 2019, and McKay was elected as the leader of the NSW Labor Party, defeating Kogarah MP Chris Minns, winning 58.0% of the Labor caucus vote, and 63.0% of rank and file party membership vote. She thereby became the 39th NSW Leader of the Opposition.[22][23] It was the first time that the premier and opposition leader in New South Wales were both women.[24] McKay revealed her shadow ministry on 3 July 2019.[25][26]

References

  1. "Ms Jodi Leyanne MCKAY, MPA(Syd), GAICD MP". Members of the Parliament of New South Wales. Retrieved 3 April 2019.
  2. aussiebeachut0 (9 September 2011), 911 NBN News Late Edition Part 1, retrieved 16 July 2019
  3. Sikora, Kate; Hildebrand, Joe (6 March 2007). "Rat in the ranks for ALP". Daily Telegraph. Australia. Retrieved 9 September 2008.
  4. Daniel, Nicholas (13 November 2020). "Labor's Anthony Albanese Is Not a Friend of Australia's Left — And He Never Was". Jacobin (magazine). Retrieved 17 November 2020.
  5. Green, Antony. "2011 New South Wales Election: Analysis of Results" (PDF). NSW Parliamentary Library. Retrieved 3 April 2019.
  6. Clennell, Andrew (14 April 2008). "Labor MP fails to mention $50,000". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 14 April 2008.
  7. "Tinkler pushes coal-loader plan". Newcastle Herald. 5 March 2011. Archived from the original on 7 March 2011. Retrieved 12 October 2020.
  8. Strachan, Julieanne (8 September 2008). "Jodi McKay - Hunter's newest Minister". Newcastle Herald. Archived from the original on 28 September 2011. Retrieved 12 October 2020.
  9. Strachan, Julieanne (8 September 2008). "Jodi McKay – Hunter's newest Minister". The Newcastle Herald. Australia. Retrieved 9 September 2008.
  10. McClymont, Kate; Whitbourn, Michaela; Lindell, Jasper (1 May 2014). "ICAC inquiry: Jodi McKay, Eric Roozendaal and the Nathan Tinkler 'bribe'". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 4 May 2014.
  11. Gerathy, Sarah (2 May 2014). "Former Newcastle MP Jodi McKay gives evidence to ICAC over alleged Nathan Tinkler bribe". ABC News. Australia. Retrieved 4 May 2014.
  12. HARRIS, MICHELLE (23 May 2014). "Jodi McKay able to face Newcastle again". Newcastle Herald. Retrieved 8 June 2014.
  13. Gerathy, Sarah (2 May 2014). "Former Newcastle MP Jodi McKay gives evidence to ICAC over alleged Tinkler bribe". ABC News. Retrieved 8 June 2014.
  14. "About Us: Executive Team". Family Planning NSW. Archived from the original on 4 May 2014. Retrieved 4 May 2014.
  15. McGowen, Michael. "ICAC: Jodi McKay coy on running again". Newcastle Herald. Retrieved 30 November 2014.
  16. "Jodi McKay to be Labor candidate for Strathfield in 2015 NSW election". ABC News. Retrieved 30 November 2014.
  17. Lynch, Peter. "Jodi McKay signals start of tough campaign over the state seat of Strathfield". Our Strathfield. Retrieved 30 November 2014.
  18. "Jodi McKay, Labor candidate for Strathfield, elevated to NSW shadow cabinet by new leader Luke Foley". ABC News. Australia. 6 January 2015. Retrieved 9 January 2015.
  19. Herbertson, Lisa (6 January 2015). "Jodi McKay named Labor's NSW planning spokeswoman in Luke Foley's new shadow cabinet". Inner West Courier. Retrieved 9 January 2015.
  20. Coultan, Mark (6 January 2015). "Luke Foley appoints Jodi McKay to NSW shadow cabinet". The Australian. Retrieved 9 January 2015.
  21. "Strathfield - ABC News". 23 March 2019. Retrieved 25 March 2019.
  22. "Jodi McKay wins NSW Labor leadership from Chris Minns after three-month process". ABC News. 29 June 2019.
  23. "Penny Sharpe on Twitter". 29 June 2019. Retrieved 29 June 2019.
  24. "Jodi McKay: new NSW Labor leader says she's 'more than a match' for Gladys Berejiklian". Guardian Australia. Australian Associated Press. 30 June 2019. Retrieved 10 July 2019.
  25. "McKay Unveils New Shadow Ministry" (Press release). Australian Labor Party (New South Wales Branch). 3 July 2019. Retrieved 3 July 2019.
  26. "Shadow Ministry in both Houses (by Seniority)". Members. Parliament of New South Wales. 27 November 2018. Retrieved 29 December 2018.
New South Wales Legislative Assembly
Preceded by
Bryce Gaudry
Member for Newcastle
2007–2011
Succeeded by
Tim Owen
Preceded by
Charles Casuscelli
Member for Strathfield
2015–present
Incumbent
Political offices
Preceded by
Matt Brown
Minister for Tourism
2008–2011
Succeeded by
George Souris
as Minister for Tourism,
Major Events, Hospitality and Racing
Preceded by
Michael Costa
Minister for the Hunter
2008–2011
Succeeded by
Mike Gallacher
Preceded by
Tony Stewart
Minister for Science and Medical Research
2008–2011
Succeeded by
Jillian Skinner
as Minister for Medical Research
Minister Assisting the Minister for Health (Cancer)
2008–2009
Succeeded by
Frank Sartor
Preceded by
Ian Macdonald
Minister for Small Business
2008–2009
Succeeded by
Steve Whan
Preceded by
Verity Firth
Minister for Women
2008–2011
Succeeded by
Pru Goward
Preceded by
Carmel Tebbutt
Minister for Commerce
2009
Succeeded by
John Robertson
Preceded by
Michael Daley
Leader of the Opposition (New South Wales)
2019–present
Incumbent
Party political offices
Preceded by
Michael Daley
Leader of the Australian Labor Party (NSW Branch)
2019–present
Incumbent
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