Meet the fresh-faced married father of three who's not only hoping to overthrow Gladys Berejiklian but could be Labor's LAST chance of avoiding a slide into unelectable lefty wokedom - and the secret weapon to his success

• e-mail

A fresh-faced 41-year-old father of three is hoping to overthrow Gladys Berejiklian and become the next premier of New South Wales - and supporters say he's exactly what the state, and the Labor Party, needs now. 

Chris Minns, 41, MP for Kogarah in southern Sydney, has been made the leader of the NSW Labor Party after Jodi McKay resigned in a tearful press conference last week following just two years in the top job in which she struggled to connect with voters.

He secured his position on Friday morning after former leader Michael Daley, 55, dropped out of the leadership race to avoid a messy and protracted struggle that would have distracted and divided the party for weeks or even months.

Chris Minns (right) became the NSW Labor leader on Friday. He is pictured with his three boys and wife Anna

Former transport spokesman Chris Minns (pictured with his family) lost a leadership battle to Ms McKay two years ago

Mr Minns, who has run for leadership unsuccessfully twice before, is from Labor's right-wing faction and believes his vision for New South Wales after Covid-19 can win a majority at the next election on March 25, 2023.

Supporters believe the secret weapon to his success is a combination of dashing looks and youthful enthusiasm which will help the party connect with younger voters and families because 'looking the part' is half the battle in contemporary politics.

'He's a good-looking fresh face with fresh ideas at a time NSW Labor desperately needs both,' one Labor source told Daily Mail Australia.  

Labor, like all opposition parties, has struggled for air during the pandemic as governments hog the limelight with daily press conferences in which they announce huge decisions that affect residents' lives more than ever before.

Mr Minns - who grew up in the St George area of south Sydney and joined Labor aged 18 - has congratulated Ms Berejiklian for doing a 'good job' at managing Covid, but believes the next election will not be decided by the handling of the pandemic.

Supporters believe his dashing looks and youthful enthusiasm will help the party connect with younger voters and families. Pictured: Mr Minns with his wife and three boys

The new Labor leader smiled at his wife Anna as they left a press conference after he was elected unopposed

Instead he thinks it will be about the cost of living and the quality of life for ordinary, working families.

'Now I have to go out and change Labor, so we can focus on the future and offer a positive vision of what is possible in this State,' he said after becoming leader on Friday.

'I will not play politics in a pandemic. But I also believe the next election will be about the kind of future we build after the pandemic is over.

'NSW Labor stands for economic opportunities and improving the quality of life for working families.

'How difficult it is to pay your mortgage, how hard it is to cover the toll costs right across Sydney and how hard it is to raise your family in Sydney at the moment?

'We will focus on positive politics, we will find an alternative not just a criticism and we will reorient the party towards working families,' he said.

His words echoed legendary Labor Prime Minister Ben Chifley who said in 1949 that Labor's mission was to bring 'something better to the people.'

'We have a great objective - the light on the hill - which we aim to reach by working the betterment of mankind,' Mr Chifley said in an iconic speech.

By focusing on families and their incomes, Mr Minns will appeal to mainstream Australians who have been put off by Labor's focus on identity politics in the past.

A review of Australian Labor's 2019 federal election campaign found the party had become a 'natural home for diverse interests and concerns including gender equality, the LGBTQI+ community, racial equality and environmentalism'.

But it warned that 'working people experiencing the dislocation caused by new technologies and globalisation could lose faith in Labor if they do not believe the party is responding to their issues.'  

Chris Minns, 41, grew up in the St George area of south Sydney where he lives with wife Anna and their three boys (pictured in May 2019)

Mr Minns (left) thinks the next election will be about the cost of living and the quality of life for ordinary, working families

In a sign that he's fresh and modern political leader, Mr Minns addressed supporters in a Facebook live selfie video from outside parliament after his election, telling them: 'I'm going to make sure we're in the hunt in 2023.'

He also uploaded the clip to his Instagram story. 

The new leader said it was time to end the in-fighting that plagued the Opposition under Ms McKay - who resigned after a bruising by-election loss in Upper-Hunter - and unite the party.

'I believe that it's time for Labor to start the long march to regain the trust of the people of this state,' he said. 

The father-of-three said he wants to develop the state's manufacturing industry; build trains, buses and ferries locally and create 'good, well-paying, middle-class' jobs.

He has previously vowed to ban political donations from coal, oil and gas companies and build a state-owned renewable energy company with the aim of producing half the state's energy from renewables by 2030 and 100 per cent by 2050.   

The aspiring premier also promises to better support the state's 21,000 homeless people and later this month will be spending a night sleeping on the freezing street alongside Treasurer Dominic Perrottet to raise money for charity.

At his press conference on Friday, Mr Minns was accompanied by his wife Anna, the mother of his three boys, who he describes as his 'best friend'.

In his maiden speech in parliament in 2015, Mr Minns thanked her for supporting his decision to become a state politician after he served as a Labor councillor, an advisor in the NSW Government and as the Assistant Secretary of the NSW Labor Party.

'Every time I dream up something- whether it is moving overseas or running for Parliament - her immediate reaction is: Great, let's do it,' he said. 

'That is pretty extraordinary because she runs a successful business and we are both raising our two little superheroes, Joe and Nick. 

'I have more a sense of us than of me: We are in this together and I owe her everything.'

Like her husband, Mrs Minns is a life-long supporter of progressive politics. After graduating Law School she became an industrial officer at Unions NSW and was a co-founder of controversial activist group Get Up! which tries to unseat conservative politicians.

She now runs Boomerang Labs, a business accelerator that helps start up companies.

Mr Minns' maiden speech caused outrage among the unions after he said Labor needed to focus on regular Australians rather than pander to powerful organisations.     

'That means taking steps to reduce union control on the floor of our conference and increasing the representation of ordinary members of our party in order to have more diverse voices echoing through the halls of this 124-year-old institution,' he said. 

The Labor leader (right with 2GB host Ben Fordham) has been a regular on TV and radio to boost his profile

Mr Minns (right with friends) served as a councillor before becoming an MP in 2015

Although he has since softened his stance, the hostility was not forgotten by union bosses who savaged him when he ran for leadership against Ms McKay in 2019.

Grant Courtney, secretary of the Newcastle branch of the meatworkers union, said at the time: 'If Mr Minns wants to lead a party of out-of-touch elitists who have no idea what life is like for regular Australians, he can go and have a crack at the leadership of the Liberal Party.'

Mr Minns lost that leadership race to Ms McKay who was preferred by rank-and-file party members - but boosted his profile while serving as shadow transport minister under her leadership.

In particular, the 41-year-old hit headlines for vigorously opposing the Coalition's plan to scrap the four double-ended ferries that take 1,000 passengers at a time between Circular Quay and Manly on a half-hour scenic trip across Sydney Harbour.

The boats - known as Freshwater ferries - generate millions in revenue for the Northern Beaches economy, are a major tourist attraction and have been a right of passage for kids from Sydney's sprawling western suburbs seeking access to the beach for generations.  

Mr Minns (left) unsuccessfully challenged for Labor leadership in 2018 and 2019 but has now finally claimed the crown

The new Labor leader (left) has outlined his vision to bring more manufacturing jobs to New South Wales

In an interview with Daily Mail Australia in January, Mr Minns said the Freshwater ferries competed with New York's Staten Island ferry and Hong Kong's Star Ferry as the most iconic public transport tourism attractions in the world.

'To just sort of recklessly one day in the bureaucratic flick of the pen destroy what is an iconic service, I think it's so short-sighted and really indicative of a government that's not thinking about where they're going to take the state in the next ten years,' he said.

'I would be focussing on keeping these community services alive to make sure the economy stays strong, particularly in this environment.'

Under huge pressure the government backed down and agreed to keep two of ferries running at weekends and public holidays while modernising the regular commuter service.

When Mr Minns was elected in a party room meeting on Friday morning, Labor politicians congratulated him with cheering and a thunderous round of applause.  

He now faces an uphill battle to draw the same enthusiasm from the broader public and ultimately overthrow the formidably popular Gladys Berejiklian. 

Mr Minns hit headlines for vigorously opposing the Coalition's plan to scrap the four double-ended ferries that sailed from Circular Quay to Manly