There were moves last night in the NSW Labor caucus to overthrow the Premier, Nathan Rees, in favour of either the backbencher Frank Sartor or the Treasurer, Eric Roozendaal.
The powerbroker Eddie Obeid wanted Noreen Hay to move to the upper house so Mr Roozendaal could stand for the seat of Wollongong to become premier.
The general secretary of NSW Labor, Matt Thistlethwaite, was preparing to throw his support behind Mr Sartor if a vote for a spill got up at a caucus meeting today, senior Labor sources said.
Eric Roozendaal denies he will run in Wollongong Key sources said if the Right faction agreed on a candidate Mr Rees could be gone today. ''No one wants to go into Christmas with Rees still as Premier. Something's going to happen this week,'' a senior Right source said.
The source claimed a chain reaction began when the ALP assistant secretary Luke Foley, from the Left, offered Mr Sartor the transport or treasury portfolios in an attempt to stop him seeking the premiership.
Mr Foley and Mr Sartor denied the conversation last night, though Mr Foley said he had spoken to the former planning minister at a function last week, saying merely that he preferred Mr Rees as leader.
Mr Rees appears to have lost the support of his Treasurer and there was talk last night that the former health minister John Della Bosca could put up his hand for the leadership.
Mr Obeid and the former cabinet minister Joe Tripodi, who usually control 15 to 20 votes in the 49-member Right caucus, prefer Mr Roozendaal or the Planning Minister, Kristina Keneally. It is believed they would not support Mr Sartor.
Meetings between the plotters - including Mr Obeid, Mr Della Bosca and Ian Macdonald - took place at Parliament House yesterday as they sought a candidate in time for a caucus meeting at 11am today. Even if a move does not occur today, the machinations suggest it is only a matter of time before the Premier falls.
Talks about finding a replacement were spurred on by a Herald/Nielsen poll published on Saturday that found Labor's primary vote remained at 31 per cent and it trailed the Coalition 55-45 on a two-party preferred basis despite the sacking of Mr Tripodi and a move to ban developer donations at the state Labor conference last month.
Of the poor poll, one MP said: ''Even a dead cat bounces.''
Yesterday the Rees camp was calling Right MPs to firm up support and there was talk of party expulsions if MPs again suggested the independent MP Richard Torbay stand for premier.
SOURCE: SMH
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