Morris Iemma Facts for Kids

Ministerial offices 1999–⁠2008

Minister for Citizenship
In office 3 August 2005 – 5 September 2008
Premier	himself
Preceded by	Bob Carr
Succeeded by	Virginia Judge
Minister for State Development
In office 17 February 2006 – 2 April 2007
Premier	himself
Preceded by	John Watkins
Succeeded by	Ian Macdonald
Treasurer of New South Wales
In office 3 August 2005 – 17 February 2006
Premier	himself
Preceded by	Andrew Refshauge
Succeeded by	Michael Costa
Minister for Health
In office 2 April 2003 – 3 August 2005
Premier	Bob Carr
Preceded by	Craig Knowles
Succeeded by	John Hatzistergos
Minister for Sport and Recreation
In office 21 November 2001 – 2 April 2003
Premier	Bob Carr
Preceded by	John Watkins
Succeeded by	Sandra Nori (as Minister for Tourism and Sport and Recreation)
Minister Assisting the Premier on Citizenship
In office 8 April 1999 – 2 April 2003
Premier	Bob Carr
Preceded by	new title
Succeeded by	John Hatzistergos
Minister for Public Works and Services
In office 8 April 1999 – 2 April 2003
Premier	Bob Carr
Preceded by	Ron Dyer
Succeeded by	Craig Knowles (as Minister for Infrastructure and Planning)

Constituencies 1991–⁠2008

Member of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly for Lakemba
In office 27 March 1999 – 19 September 2008
Preceded by	Tony Stewart
Succeeded by	Robert Furolo
Member of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly for Hurstville
In office 25 May 1991 – 5 March 1999
Preceded by	Guy Yeomans
Succeeded by	seat abolished

Personal details

Born

21 July 1961 (age 63)
Sydney, New South Wales, Australia

Political party

Labor Party

Spouse

Santina Raiti

(m. 1997)

Children

4, including Clara Iemma

Education

Narwee Boys' High School
University of Sydney
University of Technology, Sydney

Profession

Union official and adviser

Morris Iemma (born 21 July 1961) is a former Australian politician. He was the 40th Premier of New South Wales, serving from August 2005 to September 2008.

Born in Sydney, Iemma studied at the University of Sydney and the University of Technology, Sydney. He was a member of the Labor Party. He was first elected to the Parliament of New South Wales in 1991. Before politics, he worked as a trade union official.

From 1999, Iemma was a minister in the government led by Bob Carr. He became Premier and leader of the NSW Labor Party in 2005 after Carr retired. Iemma led Labor to win the 2007 state election. He resigned as Premier in 2008 and left parliament soon after. Nathan Rees became the next Premier.

About Morris Iemma
Early Career in Politics
- Representing Hurstville
- Minister in the Carr Government
Becoming Premier
- First Term as Premier
- Second Term as Premier
Leaving Politics and Later Life
Honours and Recognition
Images for kids
See also

About Morris Iemma

Morris Iemma was born in Sydney. He was the only child of Giuseppe and Maria Iemma, who came from Martone, Calabria, Italy. His mother worked in the clothing industry. His father worked as a machine labourer.

Morris joined the Labor Party when he was 16. He went to public schools in Sydney, including Narwee Boys' High School. He earned an economics degree from the University of Sydney. He also has a law degree from the University of Technology, Sydney.

In 1997, Iemma married Santina Raiti. They have four children. Their oldest child, Clara, is a cricketer. Iemma is a supporter of the Sydney Swans in AFL and the St. George Illawarra Dragons in NRL.

Early Career in Politics

Representing Hurstville

Morris Iemma first ran for the seat of Hurstville in the 1991 state election. He won the election and became a member of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly. In his first term, he worked on special committees in parliament.

He was re-elected in 1995. He was then appointed as a Parliamentary Secretary in the government led by Bob Carr. This meant he helped senior ministers. When the Hurstville area was changed in 1999, he ran for the seat of Lakemba. He won this election and continued to represent Lakemba until he left parliament in 2008.

Minister in the Carr Government

After the 1999 election, Iemma became a minister. He was the Minister for Public Works and Services. He was also the Minister Assisting the Premier on Citizenship. In 2001, he also became the Minister for Sport and Recreation.

In 2003, he was appointed Minister for Health. This is a very big and important job in the government.

Becoming Premier

Iemma in 2006

First Term as Premier

When Bob Carr decided to retire as Premier in August 2005, Morris Iemma announced he wanted to take his place. He was the only candidate, and so he became the new leader of the NSW Labor Party. On 3 August, he was officially appointed Premier by Professor Marie Bashir, the Governor of New South Wales.

As Premier, Iemma faced some challenges. Some senior ministers decided to leave politics. Iemma also took on the role of Treasurer for a short time. One of his first big decisions was to remove a tax on investment properties.

Even though he was new to the top job, opinion polls showed that the Labor Party was still popular under his leadership. This was helped when the leader of the Liberal opposition, John Brogden, resigned. Labor also won three special elections held in September 2005.

His government worked to fix problems in public transport, healthcare, and water supply. In March 2007, Morris Iemma led the Labor Party to win the state election again. They won 52 seats compared to 35 for the other parties.

Second Term as Premier

After the 2007 election, Iemma continued as Premier. In July 2007, he said the government was having difficulties with rail unions after several train system failures. In November 2007, his government allowed the growing of genetically modified canola. They also started plans to sell off parts of the state's electricity system. However, in May 2008, the Labor Party's State Conference voted against the plan to sell the electricity system.

Leaving Politics and Later Life

Iemma in 2011

On 5 September 2008, Morris Iemma announced he was resigning as Premier. This happened after he lost support from his own party group over changes he wanted to make to his team of ministers. He wanted five ministers to leave, but his group only supported one. Because of this, Iemma resigned. Nathan Rees was then chosen as the new Premier.

Iemma left parliament on 19 September 2008, ending his 17 years in politics. This led to a special election in his area of Lakemba, which was won by Robert Furolo.

In May 2009, Iemma was admitted to hospital with a serious brain inflammation. He lost movement in his legs but worked to recover through physiotherapy. Since 2011, Iemma has served on several important boards. These include the South Eastern Sydney Local Health District Board, the Cancer Institute NSW, and the Sydney Cricket & Sports Ground Trust.

In 2013 and 2015, there was talk that Iemma might run for federal parliament, but he decided not to. He was also called to give evidence in investigations by the NSW Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC).

Honours and Recognition

The Morris Iemma Indoor Sports Centre is named after him. It is a modern sports facility in Sydney. It offers many indoor sports like netball, basketball, soccer, and volleyball. It also has a gym, cafeteria, and childcare services. The centre opened in March 2011.