It’s time to go -¦ Morris Iemma

With Labor’s popularity now slipping south of 30 percent it’s time for Morris Iemma to make a decision. Will he continue to stand obstinately as the head of an unpopular government and in doing so hand the premiership to the Liberals on a silver platter, or will he stand aside for the sake of the party and give them a chance to turn public opinion around before the next election?
With the obscene amounts of money thrown at World Youth Day, the shambolic state of public transport, and an electricity sell-off opposed by an overwhelming number of voters and even ALP members, this is clearly a premier with the smell of death on him and, if he won’t jump, then survival-minded people in the ALP must putsch.
It’s time to clear the decks and get some fresh faces up there, because with 984 days and counting until NSW goes to the polls again, it’s only looking better for the Opposition and Greens.
Thankfully, if Labor does lose power, the Greens should be able to turn their gains into a stranglehold on the balance of power in the Legislative Council, which would soften the blow of seeing the Liberal’s scary religious faction on the Government benches. But even with that concession, it is unlikely that a Liberal government would allow further gay and lesbian rights reforms to occur while in office.
No, love them or loathe them, if we’re going to see the job finally done on gay and lesbian equality in this state it will require a Labor government in office -“ albeit with as many Greens as possible to force their hand. However, I am quite happy to stand corrected on this should a Liberal government surprise us with reform.
Let’s not forget that of the nine Labor MPs who crossed the floor to vote against equalising the age of consent in 2003, all but one still sit in office, including Joe Tripodi -” perhaps the most odious of Iemma’s factional lieutenants. Others who’ve since joined the Government clearly oppose the introduction of relationship registries in NSW as well.
A number of names have been put forward as alternative leaders. Of them Carmel Tebbutt is unlikely to leave the backbench having only just moved there to spend more time with her family, and Frank Sartor is perhaps almost as unloved as our Premier Iemma. That just leaves Water Minister Nathan Rees and Deputy Premier John Watkins.
It’s time for Labor to pick one and make the change -” while they still can.