Luke Foley

From Infogalactic: the planetary knowledge core
Jump to: navigation, search
The Honourable
Luke Foley
MP
File:Luke Foley - June 2014-crop.jpg
Leader of the Opposition of New South Wales
Elections: 2015
Assumed office
5 January 2015
Premier Mike Baird
Deputy Linda Burney (2015-2016)
Preceded by John Robertson
Leader of the Labor Party in New South Wales
Assumed office
5 January 2015
Deputy Linda Burney (2015-2016)
Preceded by John Robertson
Member of the New South Wales Legislative Council
In office
19 June 2010 – 6 March 2015
Preceded by Ian Macdonald
Member of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly for Auburn
Assumed office
28 March 2015
Preceded by Barbara Perry
Personal details
Born (1970-07-27) 27 July 1970 (age 53)
Nationality Australian
Political party Labor
Spouse(s) Edel McKenna[1]
Children Three
Alma mater University of New South Wales
Religion Roman Catholicism[2]
Website lukefoley.com.au

Luke Aquinas Foley (born 27 July 1970) is an Australian politician who serves as the Leader of the Opposition in the Parliament of New South Wales and as parliamentary leader of the New South Wales branch of the Australian Labor Party. Foley was a member of the New South Wales Legislative Council since 19 June 2010 until his resignation to contest the Legislative Assembly seat of Auburn at the 2015 New South Wales election.

Early years and education

Foley was born in Sydney and from the age of seven was raised solely by his mother.[3] In an interview conducted when he became NSW Opposition Leader, Foley stated his mother instilled in him a triple faith of “the Labor Party, the Catholic Church and the Eastern Suburbs Rugby League Club”.[1]

Foley was active in student representative politics at university and graduated with a Bachelor of Arts from the University of New South Wales, the first in his family to attend university.[3]

Career

Starting his working life while a student as a telemarketer for the Guide Dog Association of NSW 1988–90,[4] Foley became NSW President of the National Union of Students 1991,[4] and then worked in the office of Labor Senator Bruce Childs 1992–96.[4]

Between 1996 and 2000, he was a union organiser with the NSW branch of the Australian Services Union and became Secretary of that branch between 2000 and 2003. This involved representing the interests of charity and drug and alcohol rehabilitation workers. Referring to that period in his first speech in the NSW Parliament, Foley stated:

“For seven years I organised and represented workers predominantly working in the social and community services sector. These men and women work with the downtrodden, the excluded and the marginalised. They are ordinary workers who do extraordinary things. They are passionate and dedicated and they are underpaid and undervalued. What does it say about our values as a society when these men and women are among our lowest paid workers? Community workers make a difference every day. It is time we properly recognised them for the work they do.”[5]

A member of Labor's left faction, before his appointment to the Legislative Council, Foley was the assistant general secretary of the New South Wales Labor Party from 2003 to 2010.[4][6]

Political career

Foley was appointed to the Legislative Council to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of Ian Macdonald.[7] He describes himself as a "practising Catholic on the Left of politics"[8][9]

Foley voted in favour of same sex adoption bill in 2010,[10][11] but opposed a same sex marriage bill in the NSW upper house, stating that he preferred civil unions.[8][9][12] Foley said in 2015: "I have an open mind. I continue to talk to many people, including gay and lesbian friends of mine about this issue".[13][14]

Following the resignation of John Robertson as leader of the parliamentary Labor Party, Foley contested the leadership in the vote held on 5 January 2015. After the withdrawal of Michael Daley and Steve Whan as leadership contenders, Foley was elected unopposed.[15][16][17] He was endorsed as the Labor candidate for the safe Labor seat of Auburn at the 2015 state election, after the incumbent member Barbara Perry stood aside to allow him to transfer to the lower house from the Legislative Council.[18][19][20] He went on to win the seat, however, with a swing against his party in the electorate.[21]

Views

Foley has stated his values are "social democratic values":[5]

<templatestyles src="Template:Blockquote/styles.css" />

"I believe that governments should direct resources to overcome disadvantage. The sum of our individual decisions does not add up to the kind of society that we want to live in. I believe in a strong society where we owe obligations to each other. What gives us in the Labor Party moral purpose is our conviction that the fortunate have a responsibility to the unfortunate, that the strong should help the weak."

— Foley, delivering his inaugural speech to the Legislative Council of New South Wales, in 2010.

Personal life

Foley is married to Edel McKenna and they have three children.[1]

See also

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  2. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  6. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  7. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  10. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  11. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  12. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  13. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  14. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  15. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  16. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  17. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  18. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  19. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  20. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  21. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.

External links

Political offices
Preceded by Leader of the Opposition in New South Wales
2015–present		 Incumbent
Party political offices
Preceded by Leader of the Labor Party in New South Wales
2015–present		 Incumbent
New South Wales Legislative Assembly
Preceded by Member for Auburn
2015–present		 Incumbent
Retrieved from "https://infogalactic.com/w/index.php?title=Luke_Foley&oldid=718381571"