“I never dreamed I’d be standing on this stage as leader of the federal parliamentary Labor Party,let alone as Australia’s 31st prime minister,” he said.

“I will never take for granted that for over 130 years the parliamentary Labor Party has stood on the shoulders of rank and file party members and the trade unionists,who want every Australian to share in opportunities for a better life and a more sustainable future.”

After ten years as the pariah of federal Labor,the NSW branch was in lock-step on Saturday vowing to end 11 years of opposition and secure a Chris Minns victory in the March state election,as the party eyes a mainland sweep to govern in every state and territory except Tasmania.

Delegates and union representatives who took to the stage to call for a Minns government in 2023 stood flanked by signs urging “A fresh start for NSW”.

“Ending privatisation. Fix our hospitals. Better schools. More apprentices. Rebuild manufacturing,” they read.

At the last state election in 2019,the NSW branch was considered “the worst house on the best street,” where governance was lacking and campaigning was tired,said general secretary Bob Nanva.

On Saturday,he insisted the Labor movement was finally in “ideas mode,looking forward and not back,building and not blaming,with eyes up and forward,not down and backwards.”

“We’ve overhauled the party’s systems and controls,” he said. “And because we are living within our means,we’ve been able to build a war chest for the campaign. The war chest is ready.”

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