SYDNEY—The people of NSW have elected Morris Iemma to run their state until 2011.
Mr Iemma, who was installed by the NSW Labor party machine as the state's premier after Bob Carr retired in 2005, yesterday led his party to its fourth victory in a row.
The 45-year-old is the only son of immigrant Italian factory workers George and Maria, joined the ALP at 16, and had spent most of his adult life working for the labour movement.
He worked for the Commonwealth Bank Employees Union and for federal minister and Labor powerbroker Graham Richardson before being elected MP for Hurstville in 1991.
Now the MP for Lakemba, he served in the public works and health portfolios before becoming premier.
He holds an economics degree from the University of Sydney and a law degree from the University of Technology, and Labor's image makers like to portray Mr Iemma as the model modern Aussie bloke.
According to the Labor propaganda, the premier is an ordinary suburban man doing his best to improve the state's public services.
Mr Iemma is up at the crack of dawn every day to make sure his wife Santina, a part-time accountant, doesn't have to carry the burden of caring for their four young children on her own.
In his rare spare time, he attends St George/Illawarra rugby league games.
Recently, as he waited for a flight at Newcastle Airport during the election, Mr Iemma joked with staff and journalists and stole handfuls of Hungry Jacks french fries they had bought for lunch.
A more natural politician might have been rushing around, pressing the flesh with people in the terminal who might be undecided voters.
Mr Iemma's natural reserve saw him wait for people to approach him, at which point he was happy to have a chat.
The premier's public popularity led to his photo placed prominently on all Labor election brochures, together with references to the "Morris Iemma government" but barely a mention of the word "Labor."
Although he achieved a comfortable win in the state election, Mr Iemma's first 18 months in power read like a series of political nightmares.
Motorists reacted with fury when roads in central Sydney were closed when an underground private tollway was opened and the tunnel's owners began legal proceedings after some of the roads were reopened.
Mr Iemma was forced to sack his rival for the Labor leadership, Carl Scully, from the police ministry last October for misleading parliament.
Then in December, Aboriginal Affairs Minister Milton Orkopoulos was charged with drug and child sex offences and made a suspected suicide bid.
Meanwhile, Mr Iemma had to race to address community concerns about rundown public infrastructure and dysfunctional public transport systems and attempt to kick start a slow economy.
He has managed to convince the public the government was having success at fixing the state's problems and deserved another four years in office.
Apart from some morning television interviews and an early press conference, Mr Iemma took today off to spend time with his family.
He has promised to get to work tomorrow on delivering on his election commitments to keep improving services.
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