Michael John Daley (born 1 November 1965) is an Australian politician and has been the

Attorney-General of New South Wales The attorney general of New South Wales, in formal contexts also attorney-general or attorney general for New South Wales See, e.g. Attorney General for New South Wales v Burns & Ors', ''Leahy v Attorney-General for New South Wales'' and ''Makin ...

since 28 March 2023. He was previously the

Leader of the Opposition The Leader of the Opposition is a title traditionally held by the leader of the Opposition (parliamentary), largest political party not in government, typical in countries utilizing the parliamentary system form of government. The leader of the ...

in the

Parliament of New South Wales The Parliament of New South Wales, formally the Legislature of New South Wales, (definition of "The Legislature") is the bicameral legislative body of the Australian state of New South Wales (NSW). It consists of the Monarch, the New South Wa ...

from November 2018 to March 2019. He is the member of the

New South Wales Legislative Assembly The New South Wales Legislative Assembly is the lower of the two houses of the Parliament of New South Wales, an Australian state. The upper house is the New South Wales Legislative Council. Both the Assembly and Council sit at Parliament House ...

representing Maroubra for the

Australian Labor Party The Australian Labor Party (ALP), also known as the Labor Party or simply Labor, is the major Centre-left politics, centre-left List of political parties in Australia, political party in Australia and one of two Major party, major parties in Po ...

since 2005. Daley is aligned with the

Labor Right The Labor Right (LR), also known as Labor Forum, Labor Unity or simply Unity, is one of the two major political factions within the Australian Labor Party (ALP). It is nationally characterised by social democratic to Third Way economic policies ...

faction.

Personal life

Daley is of Irish Catholic background. He was educated at Marcellin College,

Randwick Randwick is a suburb in the Eastern Suburbs of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Randwick is located 6 kilometres south-east of the Sydney central business district and is the administrative centre for the local government ar ...

, finishing in 1983. He spent 13 years as a customs officer with the

Australian Customs Service The Australian Customs Service was an Australian Government agency responsible for Australian border protection, duties and taxes between 1985 and 2009. The Service was first under the portfolio of the Department of Industry, Technology and Com ...

, during which time he studied law at night. Daley married Christina Ithier in 2005 whom he met "at a photocopier" at his legal firm in 1997. She had two children from a previous marriage whom Daley counts as his own. He and Christina have since had two other children.

Early career

In 1998, having completed his legal studies he was admitted to the

Supreme Court of New South Wales The Supreme Court of New South Wales is the highest state court of the Australian States and territories of Australia, State of New South Wales. It has unlimited jurisdiction within the state in civil law (common law), civil matters, and hears ...

as a legal practitioner and began to pursue a career as a lawyer, and worked for a year in a law firm in central Sydney before spending five years as a senior in-house lawyer with NRMA Motoring and Services. Daley was elected as a councillor to Randwick City Council in 1995 and was deputy mayor from 2000 to 2004.

Political career

Daley was elected to represent Maroubra for the Australian Labor Party in 17 Sep 2005, replacing previous Labor member

Bob Carr Robert John Carr (born 28 September 1947) is an Australian retired politician and journalist who served as the 39th Premier of New South Wales from 1995 to 2005, as the leader of the New South Wales Labor Party, New South Wales branch of the A ...

who announced his retirement from politics. Daley served on the backbench until the elevation of

Nathan Rees Nathan Rees (; born 12 February 1968) is an Australian former politician who served as the 41st Premier of New South Wales and leader of the New South Wales Labor Party from September 2008 to December 2009. Rees was a Member of the New South Wal ...

Premier of New South Wales The premier of New South Wales is the head of government in the state of New South Wales, Australia. The Government of New South Wales follows the Westminster system, Westminster Parliamentary System, with a Parliament of New South Wales actin ...

in September 2008 when Daley became the Minister for Roads on 8 September 2008. Daley held this portfolio until a cabinet reshuffle on 14 September 2009 where he was subsequently appointed Minister for Police and Minister for Finance, the portfolios he held until 4 December 2009. When

Kristina Keneally Kristina Marie Kerscher Keneally (born 19 December 1968) is an American-born Australian politician who served as the first female Premier of New South Wales from 2009 to 2011 and was later a Labor Senator for New South Wales from February 2018 u ...

became Premier in December 2009 he remained as Minister for Police and Minister for Finance until the 2011 state election, where he was one of just 20 Labor MPs elected. Daley was believed to be a potential candidate for the Labor leadership, however, he did not contest it. As a result,

John Robertson John, Jon, or Jonathan Robertson may refer to: Politicians United Kingdom politicians *J. M. Robertson (John Mackinnon Robertson, 1856–1933), British journalist and Liberal MP for Tyneside 1906–1918 *John Robertson (Bothwell MP) (1867–1926), ...

was elected unopposed as Keneally's replacement, and Daley was appointed as Shadow Treasurer and Shadow Minister for Finance and Services in the Robertson shadow ministry and the subsequent Foley shadow ministry from 11 April 2011 to 10 March 2016 and 28 March 2014, respectively. In March 2016 he was appointed Shadow Minister for Gaming and Racing, Shadow Minister for Planning and Infrastructure which he held on to until 27 November 2018. He also served as Deputy Leader of the Opposition from 7 March 2016 before being elected as the Leader of the Opposition on 10 November 2018.

Leader of the Opposition

Following

Luke Foley Luke Aquinas Foley (born 27 June 1970) is a former Australian Labor Party politician who served as the Leader of the Opposition in the Parliament of New South Wales from 2015 to 2018. Foley was a member of the New South Wales Legislative Counci ...

's resignation of the role, Daley nominated for the role of New South Wales Labor leader and Leader of the New South Wales Opposition. On 10 November 2018, Daley won the

leadership election A leadership election is a political contest held in various countries by which the members of a political party determine who will be the leader of their party. Generally, any political party can determine its own rules governing how and when a ...

against

Chris Minns Christopher John Minns (born 17 September 1979) is an Australian politician serving as the 47th and current premier of New South Wales since March 2023. He has been the leader of the New South Wales branch of the Australian Labor Party (ALP) si ...

33 votes to 12, and was elected as the Leader of the Labor Party in New South Wales and became the 38th NSW Leader of the Opposition. On 19 March 2019, a few days before the state election, a video from September 2018 surfaced in which Daley made comments about Asian immigration in Sydney. Daley said "Our young children will flee and who are they being replaced with? They are being replaced by young people from typically Asia with PhDs," and "So there's a transformation happening in Sydney now where our kids are moving out and foreigners are moving in and taking their jobs". Daley apologised from his comments, stating "What I was referring to was housing affordability in Sydney ... I could've expressed myself better, no offence was meant." The party was unsuccessful in the election a few days later, and Daley subsequently stood aside as leader and withdrew his candidacy for the subsequent leadership ballot after initially stating that he would contest it.

Jodi McKay Jodi Leyanne McKay (born 16 August 1969) is an Australian former politician who was the Leader of the Opposition in the Parliament of New South Wales from June 2019 until May 2021. She previously served as a member of the New South Wales Legisla ...

became the new permanent as party leader and opposition leader in June 2019 after Daley's resignation. On 30 May 2021, following the resignation of McKay as party leader, Daley announced he would run again for party leadership. On 4 June 2021, he pulled out of the leadership contest, allowing

to be elected leader unopposed.

References

External links