Labor seizes NSW after 12-year absence, Perrottet steps down

New South Wales Labor has swept back into power after 12 years in Opposition, with Chris Minns set to become the state's 47th Premier. Over the weekend, voters delivered a decisive verdict against the Coalition, ending an era of conservative rule that had seemed increasingly entrenched.

The result came swiftly on election night. As the count began to reveal Labor's advantage, the broadcaster Sky News made an early call for a Labor victory. Within the hour, Premier Dominic Perrottet had phoned Minns to concede defeat. Before the evening was out, Perrottet stood before Liberal Party supporters to announce his own resignation as leader.

"As leader of the parliamentary Liberal Party, I take full responsibility for the loss this evening," Perrottet said. He described the Coalition's need for a "fresh start" and spoke of his conviction that Minns would lead the state with integrity and decency. To all New South Welshmen, he issued a call for unity: support the incoming premier, he urged, because "when New South Wales goes well, our country goes well."

Minns, addressing a crowd of jubilant Labor supporters, struck a forward-looking tone. He thanked his campaign team and Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, who had come to mark the occasion. His remarks turned to those who had carried the state through the pandemic—the nurses, teachers and emergency workers in hospitals and schools—and he pledged that his government would "look after the people who looked after us."

The election itself laid bare the scale of the shift. By the time counting paused on the night itself, Labor had claimed 47 of the state's 93 seats, with projections suggesting a final tally near 50. The Coalition, by contrast, had suffered catastrophic losses, dropping 19 seats and expected to finish with just 31. The reshuffling of the electoral map was significant: Parramatta, East Hills, the South Coast and other long-held Coalition territories returned to Labor's column. Penrith, held by former Liberal Stuart Ayres, teetered on the edge.

The defeat was particularly acute for Perrottet. He had assumed the premiership little more than a year prior, in October 2021, when Gladys Berejiklian stepped down amid a corruption probe. At that time, he had won the Liberal leadership ballot convincingly. Now, having led the party to the polls, he accepted responsibility for the outcome and vacated the role.

Observers noted the civility of the campaign. Both Minns and Perrottet had emphasised substance over personal attack, a tone each praised the other for maintaining. Minns suggested the 2023 campaign might stand as a template for respectful political contests, though he stopped short of predicting that future campaigns would follow suit.

The Labor victory closed the book on 12 years without state power. Labor's last win in New South Wales came in 2007, under Morris Iemma. The years since had consolidated Coalition rule, but the voters' decision over the weekend suggested that era had run its course.