Foley hailed as a firm friend

COMMUNAL leaders have welcomed the appointment of Luke Foley as NSW Opposition Leader.

Foley was elected, unopposed, as the leader of the NSW Labor Party on Monday, following the departure of John Robertson on December 23.

Robertson was under pressure to resign after it was revealed that he had sent a letter on behalf of Martin Place gunman Man Haron Monis to the Department of Family and Community Services in 2011.

NSW Jewish Board of Deputies president Jeremy Spinak described Foley as a proven and longstanding friend of the Jewish community.

“We welcome his election as leader of the NSW ALP and we look forward to engaging with him on a range of important issues,” Spinak said.

Executive Council of Australia Jewry’s executive director Peter Wertheim said Foley would be a formidable Opposition Leader.

“He comes from the anti-totalitarian part of the political left, the part which has remained true to the values of the enlightenment – of freedom, social justice and democracy,” Wertheim said.

“He also understands that Israel, despite any faults, is a lone beacon of liberty and humanity in a region that is drowning in blood, tyranny and misery.

“We should all wish him well in his new role.”

Foley displayed a great understanding of the Australian Jewish community when he addressed Parliament in 2013 and explained why he took part in a parliamentary study tour to Israel.

“The country of Israel has an intense connection with our Jewish citizens,” Foley said.

“The New South Wales Parliamentary Friends of Israel group is not merely a friendship group with a foreign state, that being Israel. It also is a friendship group with the New South Wales Jewish community.

“I do not believe it is possible to fully understand the Jewish community of our state without making an attempt to familiarise ourselves with and understand the State of Israel.”

Foley will have less than three months in his new role before the state election on March 28.

JOSHUA LEVI

New NSW Opposition Leader Luke Foley