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For a time, Kellie Sloane’s backers worried there was a stumbling block to her becoming Liberal leader. Could a leader from an electorate that screams privilege really speak to the city’s western suburbs or the state’s regions?
The party has previously experimented with a leader from Vaucluse, and it failed spectacularly. But was it the name of the electorate or the choice of leader? (Peter Debnam led the Liberals to a loss in 2007, an election even Labor admits should not have gone their way.)
Newly installed NSW Liberal Party leader Kellie Sloane outside Edgecliff station in her Vaucluse electorate.Credit: Dylan Coker
Liberal operatives ultimately landed on Vaucluse not being a major hindrance for Sloane, convinced that her strong communication skills would be able to neutralise accusations of being out of touch.
But NSW Labor has other ideas – and has been reminding voters at every opportunity that Sloane hails from an electorate home to waterside mansions and the country’s most expensive schools.
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Labor, and Premier Chris Minns, is convinced that a leader from Vaucluse will only work in their favour. A Herald analysis of speeches made in the lower house reveals Labor’s thinking.
According to a deep dive into Hansard, when it came to Minns’ most uttered phrases since the March 2023 election, the “member for Vaucluse”, comes in at seventh with 44 mentions, equal with “domestic violence” and pipping “public transport”.
Some Liberal insiders are also convinced Labor is playing politics with housing policy by identifying Woollahra, and its half-finished station, as the perfect place to build more homes. The government vehemently denies this claim, insisting the suburb could and should take more housing.
But nonetheless, the government’s housing plan for Sloane’s electorate will be a challenge for her to navigate, as she tries to placate her wealthy NIMBY constituents while pursing a pro-housing agenda elsewhere in the state.
In her first press conference on Friday after being installed as Liberal leader, Sloane was well aware she needed to be ready for questions about whether an MP living in Centennial Park could relate to a voter from Condell Park.
“I grew up in the country, went to a public school,” was Sloane’s response to how she will relate to voters outside her electorate. “I’ve worked in western Sydney. I’ve lived in many parts of Sydney, I’m very fortunate that the jobs I’ve had have connected me with communities everywhere.”
And just to prove her point, Sloane will spend her first weekend as Liberal leader in western Sydney.
Sloane’s predecessor and friend, the former MP for Vaucluse Gabrielle Upton, is convinced that the grandiose-sounding electorate will not be an issue for the new leader.
“In a role like leader, it is how you bring yourself the job, the experience you have had before politics and your personality and your outlook on life,” Upton says.
“Kellie might live in Vaucluse, but she grew up in another state and has had a lot of exposure to life outside Vaucluse. She will get out and about and explain her background and Vaucluse is just a name.”
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