http://www.thepunch.com.au/author-bios/rodney-cavalier/ Rodney Cavalier is a former NSW Minister for Education and the current Chairman of the Sydney Cricket Ground Trust. He joined Labor Party in 1968 at age 20 and worked as a union organiser and as an aide to Federal Minister Clyde Cameron before being elected as an alderman on Hunters Hill Council (1977-1980) and later winning the State seat of Fuller from sitting member Peter Coleman in 1978. Rodney was Minister for Education from 1984-88 in the Wran and Unsworth governments. He was noted for his abrasive personality, reformist zeal and intolerance of sloppy work. One left-wing Teachers Federation official described him as “the rudest, most pugnacious individual to hold office”. Rodney lost his seat in 1988, and was appointed chairman of the Australian Language and Literacy Council and later became deputy chairman of the National Council for the Centenary of Federation. Rodney is an ardent book collector and lover of cricket, and in 2001 was appointed Chairman of the Sydney Cricket Ground Trust. He was awarded an Honorary Doctorate of University of Technology Sydney in 2008 and is a Fellow of the Senate of the University of Sydney. en Copyright 2012 The Punch penberthyd@newsltd.com.au penberthyd@newsltd.com.au Sat, 26 May 2012 20:00:49 +0000 Sat, 26 May 2012 20:00:49 +0000 Politics, opinion, world news, sports news, latest news, views, Barack Obama, Kevin Rudd, Julia Gillard, Nathan Rees, Malcolm Turnbull, Peter Garrett, Barnaby Joyce, Australian, federal politics, opinion polls, election, The Punch, thepunch, punch ExpressionEngine 1.6.7 http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss 15 http://www.thepunch.com.au/images/punch-logo-rss.png http://www.thepunch.com.au/ 144 70 Politics, political opinion, world news, sports news and the latest news and views updated live, daily on The Punch - Australia's best conversation. Search The Punch keywords http://www.thepunch.com.au/search/ http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/Execution-How-NSW-Labor-knocked-off-a-Premier/ Editor’s note: This is an extract from Rodney Cavalier’s forthcoming book Power Crisis, an explosive account of the self-destruction of the NSW Labor government, which has seen a turnover of four premiers in five years. Former NSW Education Minister Cavalier (once described by a left-wing Teachers Federation official as “the rudest, most pugnacious individual to hold office”), provides a warts and all account of the downfall of Premiers Iemma and Rees as well as the best analysis so far of how NSW Labor’s inexorable decline. Nathan Rees began the final day of his leadership with a press conference. He and his staff thought long and hard about what he might say. The line taken came of the instant; wrapping it in words took a while longer. Having decided against a studied silence, the contents of what Rees felt compelled to say will enjoy a long afterlife: “I will not hand the government of New South Wales over to Obeid, Tripodi or Sartor. Should I not be premier by the end of this day, let there be no doubt in the community’s mind, no doubt, that any challenger will be a puppet of Eddie Obeid and Joe Tripodi. That is the reality. That is the choice at stake today. The decision now lies in the hands of my Caucus colleagues.” feedback@thepunch.com.au (Rodney Cavalier) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/Execution-How-NSW-Labor-knocked-off-a-Premier/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/Execution-How-NSW-Labor-knocked-off-a-Premier/#item4199 Thu, 07 Oct 2010 19:45:25 +0000 Rodney Cavalier | Author bios | The Punch