After 14 years in TV journalism, Kellie Sloane says politics is a ‘walk in the park’

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Opinion

November 30, 2025 — 5.00am

Last week, just two years after entering the NSW parliament, Kellie Sloane took over from Mark Speakman to become the leader of the NSW opposition.

Fitz: Kellie, thank you for your time. I couldn’t help but notice, when I texted you requesting this interview, that you replied personally and instantly, with enthusiasm. This was in strict contrast to when I made the same approach to Sussan Ley when she became federal Liberal leader – and from whom I’m still waiting for any kind of reply. Are you determined to be accessible from the first?

KS: [Laughing.] Well, for the right people, Peter! The truth is, in the last few days I’ve had well over 1000 messages, and it’s been quite overwhelming actually. But I think accessibility for politicians is critical. We’re there to represent people. We need to be listening to people. We need to be communicating what we stand for, so as much as I can, I’ll be saying “yes”.

Fitz: Deborah Snow’s profile of you in The Sydney Morning Herald revealed that you grew up in a strong Liberal Party household in South Australia, handing out how-to-vote cards with your heavily involved father, manning booths on election day and so on. For what it’s worth, I grew up in a similar household at Peats Ridge. So, have you been as dismayed at how far the federal Libs, particularly, have strayed from that “pumpkin scones” Liberalism, to fire and brimstone and even Trumpian madness out on the fringes?

KS: Well, look, I’m honestly, a “glass half full” person, so I’m always focused on what I’m doing, and I’ve always been quite excited about the NSW Liberals. But of course, I’m sometimes dismayed at what I see in the federal sphere. They’re certainly going through a challenging time. And yet, I think Sussan Ley has got an extraordinary story to tell, and my hope for her is that she gets to tell it.

Fitz: Before you got to politics, you had a long spell at Channel Nine. I have long loved the line from Hunter S. Thompson: “Television is a plastic, shallow money trench where whores and thieves run free and good men die like dogs.” That was certainly my experience of Channel Nine – less the whores! Was it yours?

Sloane as a 24-year-old TV presenter for Money on Channel Nine.

KS: No. To quote another author, it was “the best of times and the worst of times”. It was an extraordinary privilege to work there, to have that excitement of live television, but also to go out and meet people in all walks of life, opening my mind up to how different people live, to stand with them in moments of incredible grief or trauma, through floods, covering disasters – or, heading off and seeing the Oscars. It opened up my world. But, at the time I was there at Channel Nine, it was the Wild West as well, right? It was pretty cutthroat. So people have said to me, “Oh my gosh, how’s politics? You must find that really confronting.” I’m like, “It’s a walk in the park compared to my time at Channel Nine!” But I would not change a moment of it. And I have to say, as I sat in the Today show studio just after I was elected leader, I did wonder, “Why did I leave this industry?” But you have an itch and you want to do more, and I wanted to make a big contribution.

The most pivotal thing for me was that, after almost 14 years at Channel Nine, when I was hosting Nightline, the program got axed and I was “boned”, as they used to say. I was pregnant with our third child, so I briefly started up a small business, before taking the plunge into the not-for-profit sector.

Fitz: Which was when I ran into you at the Shore School, with a stuffed giraffe known as Healthy Harold, as part of the Life Education program.

Life Education Australia’s mascot Healthy Harold. Kellie Sloane was chief executive of the organisation.

KS: Funnily enough, as people say, I’ve gone from working with children and animals to working with children and animals in politics. I haven’t moved far.

Fitz: And so, what was the catalyst?

KS: There was a key moment, and it was when Gladys Berejiklian, as premier, made an election pledge to give Life Education some funding, which I’d been working on relentlessly for about 18 months. And I stood at a press conference with Gladys and also Rob Stokes, who was the education minister, and after that press conference, Rob Stokes walked up to me and said, “Hey, do you think you’d be interested in going into politics? I reckon you do a good job.” And I said, “Well, funny you say that. I think I would like to have a crack.”

Fitz: But you’ve also had the worst of times. I note what happened after you and [independent MP] Allegra Spender were terrific in speaking out after that neo-Nazi nutter rally in Sydney a few weeks ago. You said, “These people do not represent NSW or our values.” When I said much the same on Twitter, I was roundly attacked by Nazi trolls, but in my case, nobody was threatening to rape me. In your case, that must have been deeply confronting for you and your husband to have nasty Nazi toxic sludge directed straight at you. At such moments did neither of you say to the other, “Is this really worth it?”

KS: Well, yeah. But, look, the rape comments were levelled at Allegra. I just had run-of-the-mill death threats. I screenshot the worst of them, sent them to the police, shut down the Twitter account and tried to move on with things. But, yes, once in a while, you do get hit with, “Why am I putting myself out there?” And, “Do I have to start growing an extra layer of skin?“ But I have to shake it off. I’ve come into politics having covered it for a long time as a journalist. When I was at Channel Nine, I covered every federal election and interviewed every prime minister. I have seen what politicians face, and I know it’s really tough, and I went in with my eyes wide open.

Fitz: OK, there’s been much speculation about what you said to Mark Speakman that afternoon to make him do such a spectacular volte-face. He started the day saying, “They’ll only take the leadership from my cold, dead hand”, and he finished the day saying, “Yeah, nah, vote for Kellie. Taxi!” So what on earth did you say to him?

KS: Well, I think the jar lid had been loosened by the time he came into my office. We sat down. Mark and I have enormous respect for each other. I’ve always been open and honest with him. I think he knew the writing was on the wall, but he needed to hear it from me that I wanted the job because for so long I have pushed back, and I have said publicly that I would never challenge him for the job. Quite frankly, I don’t think I wanted it enough.

Fitz: And...?

KS: And it was fair enough for him to sit down with me, look me in the eyes and say, “Do you want the job, and do you think you could do it better?” And I looked him in the eyes and said, “I do want the job, and I think we need a change.”

Fitz: “Taxi!”

KS: The truth of the matter is, I did not have a burning desire for this role, but there’s enormous freedom that comes with that. I didn’t have to do any deals. I didn’t have to offer anyone any shadow cabinet positions. I was elevated by my team to a position because they felt that I could do a good job. And to me, that’s an incredible honour.

Fitz: But the fact that you have become Liberal leader just two years after entering parliament suggests that the team you’re now leading wasn’t already boasting Don Bradman, Keith Miller, Steve Waugh, Allan Border, and Belinda Clark in the line-up?

Mark Speakman and Kellie Sloane speak to the media on November 10 after Sloane received threats on X in response to her condemnation of a neo-Nazi rally outside Parliament House.

KS: Look, we’ve got a great mix in my team. And there are people that have held ministerial office and been in executive government, and they will be all around me. And we are young. Six of our team under 40, so I think I’ve got the back-up.

Fitz: Mark Speakman was firm in saying that, whatever the feds do, we’re not having nuclear in NSW, not now, not ever. Do you feel the same?

KS: I think nuclear has to, at some point, be part of the mix. I’m agnostic about the technology. We’re going to have a really energy-thirsty future, and I have no doubt that nuclear may be part of that ... We’re seeing around the world those small modular nuclear reactors being set up by big corporates because they need them.

The Mount Piper Power Station, west of Lithgow. Kellie Sloane says she’s open-minded about how long coal-fired power stations should stay open.

Fitz: Are there any SMRs working commercially anywhere in the world right now?

KS: The technology is moving very quickly. I need to fact-check that, Peter, but, irrespective, I have no doubt nuclear will play a part in a clean energy future at some point for NSW. But for NSW and our country, it’s a long way off. I’m focused on the here and now, and that is renewables continuing to roll out. You know, we’ve got dirty, old, expensive coal fire stations, but in order to keep the lights on, we have to be open-minded about how long we keep those assets, if the renewables don’t come online quickly.

Fitz: Look, it’s obvious to me on this conversation alone, you’re going to have a blinder as a media presence, whereas Mark Speakman – with the greatest respect – was invisible. But there must have come a time in the last couple of days as you settled into your new digs – “Here’s the coffee machine, over there’s the printer, and just under the desk is the panic button” – when you opened the policy cupboard. Honestly, honestly, was that policy cupboard as bare as a baby’s bottom?

KS: No! We have been working as a shadow cabinet on policy behind the scenes for a little while now. And I’m aware people will need to see more than just a friendly face and a person who can communicate the values of our party, which I’ll do passionately. They’ll need to see a credible policy platform. And if I’ve learnt anything from watching the last federal election, it’s that we lost because people didn’t know what we stood for.

Fitz: So when can we expect the Big Reveal of the policies you’ve been working on?

KS: There is nothing that I want to reveal at the moment, but the key areas of focus for us have to be continuing to deliver infrastructure as former LNP governments have. The Labor government has said “no” to new metros. We need to be ambitious about rail infrastructure. I’m heavily invested in families and households and supporting them to thrive. So there’ll be practical cost-of-living measures also. What we have to deliver must be bold and it must be ambitious. And I say that because we’ve always prided ourselves on being, you know, “the premier state”, the “engine room of the country” and everywhere I’m going, people are telling me that they feel like NSW has lost its spark lately. And we need to reignite the state, and that means I’m going to have to deliver some policies that I hope will capture people’s imaginations.

Fitz: Sure, but the coming attack that you’re already aware of will be, “Don’t talk to us about the cost of living, Ms Snooty! You’re the member for Vaucluse! What would you know?” What’s your answer?

KS: My understanding of the people of NSW is that if you have a red-hot crack and you demonstrate your values and what you’re standing up for, that matters more than where you live. And quite frankly, I grew up in the country. I went to a public school. I’ve worked in western Sydney. I’ve travelled broadly and listened widely. I’ve lived in many parts of Sydney, not just the east. So I think people will see that in me, and I hope not make quick judgments based on the postcode.

Fitz: Can we agree that getting mixed up this week as to whether you had just been in Blacktown or Bankstown was unfortunate?

KS: Yes, it was absolutely unfortunate. My deepest apologies to people who live in two very different areas. And the irony is that one of the biggest campaigns I ran as shadow health minister was about the failures of Blacktown Hospital. So, look, I’m going to make more mistakes. It’s inevitable. And to be fair, the last few days I’ve been running on caffeine and adrenaline and not much sleep. So I hope people forgive me for that.

Fitz: Can I ambush you anyway with this quick quiz? Is Rooty Hill on the Vaucluse side of Parramatta, or the other side?

KS: They used to have a fabulous theme park at Rooty Hill. That was the highlight of some of my early visits to Sydney. I’ve been to the Rooty Hill RSL a few times, and I used to always, as a kid, have a giggle about the name. But Sydney’s going to get to know me a lot better, and I’m going to get to know Sydney and NSW a lot better.