We need to climb Everest just to stay where we are
In a Sydney town hall on a winter Saturday, New South Wales Premier Chris Minns delivered a sobering reckoning to his own faithful: political comfort is a luxury Labor cannot afford. With One Nation surging to 22 percent in state polling, the party that governs faces not a single rival but a fractured field of challengers — each capable of eroding the coalition of trust Labor needs to survive March's election. Minns framed the moment not as crisis but as clarifying demand, invoking Everest not to dramatise defeat but to insist that holding ground, in this era, requires the effort once reserved for conquest.
- One Nation's rise to 22% has shattered any assumption that Labor's 32% primary lead translates into safety — the opposition is fragmented, not absent, and every splinter costs.
- Palestinian flag protesters were removed from the balcony mid-conference, and hundreds more were held behind security fencing outside, turning the venue itself into a symbol of Labor's unresolved tensions over Gaza.
- Fifty-six party branches are pushing to repeal controversial anti-protest laws, but the left faction fears the weekend's agenda will bury those debates beneath procedural scheduling — frustration is building quietly from within.
- Minns countered the turbulence with economic ambition: a $12 billion commitment to bring train manufacturing back to the Hunter region, projecting over 1,300 jobs and drawing rare, unambiguous applause from the floor.
- An 11th-hour deal on the upper house ticket avoided an open factional brawl, but the placement of protest-law critic Anthony D'Adam at fourth position signals that internal dissent has been managed, not resolved.
- The premier closed with a direct defence of Muslim Australians and a rebuke of One Nation's cultural nationalism — framing the coming election not merely as a contest of policy, but as a test of what kind of society New South Wales intends to be.
Chris Minns arrived at Sydney's town hall on Saturday with a message his party did not come to hear. Addressing the NSW Labor state conference, the premier warned that complacency was the enemy — that holding power in next March's election would require climbing Everest. The warning was grounded in a single alarming number: One Nation has reached 22 percent in recent polling, reshaping the terrain Labor must cross to survive.
The conference opened under tension. Two men unfurled a Palestinian flag from the balcony as Minns approached the podium; police removed them swiftly. Outside, members of Labor Friends of Palestine and allied groups were kept behind security fencing — a precaution drawn from February, when protesters had confronted Israeli president Isaac Herzog at a similar event. Minns acknowledged the demonstrators without conceding ground, noting they were unlikely to be the last.
Inside, the divisions ran deeper than the protests. Fifty-six party branches have passed motions calling for the government's anti-protest laws to be repealed or reviewed, with the entire left faction behind them. Members feared the weekend's scheduling — social justice and global affairs platforms listed last — would prevent any real debate on those laws, gambling reform, or the Aukus agreement. The factional fault lines between Labor's right and left remained visible even as an 11th-hour deal resolved the upper house ticket without a floor vote. Treasurer Daniel Mookhey leads the slate; left faction leader Penny Sharpe follows second; protest-law critic Anthony D'Adam secured fourth. Agriculture minister Tara Moriarty sits seventh, facing a difficult path as One Nation's numbers grow.
Minns used the speech to pivot toward economic ground. He announced a $12 billion, 15-year commitment to bring train manufacturing back to the Hunter region — either Teralba or Broadmeadow — projecting 780 construction jobs and 550 in manufacturing. The announcement drew the conference's loudest applause.
The polling picture is complicated rather than comforting: Labor at 32 percent, the Coalition at 26, One Nation at 22. The opposition is fragmented, not unified — but Minns refused to treat fragmentation as an advantage. He criticised One Nation's vision of an Australian monoculture and defended families of Islamic faith against rhetoric that denies their belonging. Unions NSW secretary Mark Morey echoed the warning, telling delegates that working people would find no allies in the Coalition, the Nationals, or One Nation. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese was due to address the conference the following day.
Chris Minns stood at the podium of Sydney's town hall on Saturday morning and told the assembled Labor delegates something they did not want to hear: the party could not afford to believe it was already winning. The New South Wales premier, addressing his party's state conference, deployed a stark metaphor. To simply hold onto power in next year's election, he said, Labor would need to "climb Everest." The warning reflected a political landscape that has shifted beneath the party's feet. One Nation, Pauline Hanson's populist vehicle, has climbed to 22 percent in recent polling—a figure that has begun to reshape how Labor thinks about its path to victory.
Minns did not arrive at the podium unopposed. As he made his way to the stage, two men unfurled a Palestinian flag from the balcony above, part of a broader wave of Gaza-related protest that has shadowed Labor conferences for months. NSW police removed them quickly. The premier acknowledged the demonstrators directly, noting they were "not the first to try and disrupt our democratic conference and they probably won't be the last." Outside the venue, members of Labor Friends of Palestine and other protest groups were held at a distance by security fencing and police lines—a precaution born from memory of a February incident when protesters had confronted Israeli president Isaac Herzog.
The internal tensions within Labor run deeper than the street-level protests. Fifty-six party branches have passed motions calling for the government's controversial anti-protest laws to be repealed or reviewed, backed by the entire left faction. Labor members are frustrated that they may not get a chance to debate these laws, gambling reform, or the Aukus nuclear agreement, since the social justice and global affairs platforms were scheduled last on the weekend's agenda. The party is fractured between its right and left wings, and the divisions are real.
Yet Minns used his speech to pivot toward economic messaging. He announced plans to extend the state's apprenticeship program and, more significantly, to bring train manufacturing back to the Hunter region. The government has identified two potential sites—Teralba or Broadmeadow—for a state-owned, privately operated facility. Labor is committing $12 billion over 15 years to the project, projecting 780 jobs in site construction and 550 in manufacturing. The announcement drew cheers from the conference floor.
The upper house ticket for next March's election was resolved in an 11th-hour deal that averted a potentially divisive conference-wide ballot. Daniel Mookhey, the treasurer and a right faction member, leads the eight-person slate, followed by Penny Sharpe, the left faction leader in the upper house. Anthony D'Adam, a vocal critic of Labor's protest laws and its stance on the Middle East, secured the fourth position. Tara Moriarty, the agriculture minister, sits seventh on the ticket and faces a difficult race to retain her seat as One Nation's support grows.
Minns was not alone in naming the threat. Mark Morey, secretary of Unions NSW and another candidate on the upper house ticket, made a rare reference to the Coalition alongside One Nation and the Nationals, saying working people would never see these parties stand up for fair wages and conditions. The premier himself criticized "leaders who are insisting that millions of people reject pride in their grandparents and ancestors and instead conform to One Nation's version of an Australian monoculture." He also defended Australian families of Islamic faith against political rhetoric that declares there are "no good Muslims."
The polling numbers tell a complicated story. Labor holds 32 percent primary support, the Coalition 26 percent, and One Nation 22 percent, according to May figures from the Sydney Morning Herald. Labor is ahead, but the opposition is fragmented across multiple parties rather than consolidated into a single alternative. Minns made clear that this fragmentation does not translate into comfort. "With politics changing so quickly, we need to climb Everest just to stay where we are," he told delegates. "This campaign will throw everything at us. We're up against many parties, not a single opposition. And it will test us like never before." Prime Minister Anthony Albanese was scheduled to address the conference on Sunday.
Notable Quotes
We need to climb Everest just to stay where we are— Chris Minns, NSW Premier
Leaders insisting that millions of people reject pride in their grandparents and ancestors and instead conform to One Nation's version of an Australian monoculture— Chris Minns, NSW Premier
The Hearth Conversation Another angle on the story
Why does Minns use the Everest metaphor specifically? Why not just say the race will be hard?
Everest is about the absolute limit of human effort. You can't phone it in. You can't coast. It's not about winning—it's about not losing altitude. That's his message: even maintaining your current position requires everything you have.
One Nation at 22 percent is significant, but Labor still leads. So what's the real threat?
The threat isn't that One Nation wins outright. It's that the opposition splinters. Labor faces the Nationals, the Liberals, and One Nation all pulling votes in different directions. That makes the math unpredictable. And One Nation's growth suggests Labor is bleeding support to the right, which is harder to win back.
The Gaza protests interrupted the conference. Does that help or hurt Labor?
It exposes the party's internal wound. Fifty-six branches want the protest laws reviewed. The left faction is angry. But the party leadership is trying to move past it, not engage it. That tension doesn't disappear just because police remove a flag from a balcony.
The train manufacturing announcement—is that a response to One Nation's appeal?
It's an attempt to answer the same voters One Nation is reaching: working people in regional areas who feel left behind. The Hunter region has real economic pain. Labor is saying we have a plan for jobs and industry. One Nation says the system is rigged. Both are speaking to the same anxiety.
Why does Minns specifically defend Muslims and talk about multiculturalism?
Because One Nation's appeal is built partly on cultural nationalism—the idea that Australia should be monocultural, that certain groups don't belong. Minns is drawing a line. He's saying Labor will defend minority communities explicitly. It's a choice about what kind of party Labor is.
What happens if Labor loses next March?
That's the unspoken weight in the room. One Nation becomes a real governing force in NSW. The anti-protest laws stay. The conversation shifts further right. And Labor has to reckon with how it lost to a party it thought it had contained.