NSW Labor leader Chris Minns has announced his new frontbench team just over a week after his appointment.
Mr Minns, aspires to lead Labor out of the opposition role and into leadership, looking forward to the 25 March 2023 state elections.
With the motto “renewal, change and new ideas” he announced the new shadow cabinet revealing 27 members, out of which 13 are women and five are new entrants.
“The shadow cabinet that we have in place is the team for NSW after the pandemic is over,” he said said.
“It represents renewal, it represents generational change and I think it has the mix of diversity and opinion that NSW needs in this very difficult period. The people who I’ve announced today … are full of ideas, they’ve got experience in politics but more importantly they represent the people of NSW.”
Meanwhile, three of the members are intrinsically connected to the Greek Community.
Sophie Cotsis, remains Shadow Minister for Industrial Relations and Work, Health and Safety while Courtney Houssos, who is married to a Greek and calls herself an honorary Hellene becomes Shadow Minister for Better Regulation and Innovation.
Finally, Steve Kamper, is announced as the new Shadow Minister for Small Business, Property and Multiculturalism.
Mr Kamper recalled growing up as a youth of Greek heritage in Sans Souci, where he and his siblings were made to feel “different” despite being born in Australia.
“I remember hanging out after school at Spiro’s Worksburgers [hamburger shop], hearing customers coming in and placing their orders: ‘Plain burger, packet of chips and a Coke, thanks wog’,” he said.
“These days we take immense pride in our diversity, but it was not always so. Growing up, I remember feeling a deep sense of shame when my mother would speak Greek to me in public.”