New South Wales State Opposition Leader Luke Foley has recently spoken about his Catholic values, telling AAP Sky News that his mother instilled in him as a child faith in three institutions: the Labor Party, the Catholic Church and the Eastern Suburbs Rugby League football club.
The devoted Catholic and sports tragic has given NSW Labor a fighting chance at the upcoming NSW election.
In a bizarre set of circumstances, former Opposition leader John Robertson was forced to resign in December last year after it was revealed he wrote a letter in 2011 on behalf of Sydney siege gunman, Man Haron Monis.
Mr Foley quickly emerged as a favourite to succeed Mr Robertson.
He made sure to consult with his mother, sister, and wife, Edel, about the impact the decision might have on his family.
He says while he doesn’t see his kids Aoife, 8, Niamh, 6, and Patrick, 5, as much as he’d like, he has made sure to spend Saturday mornings with them amid a busy election campaign.
Mr Foley says his mum Helen was a single parent; his father left the family home when Mr Foley and his twin sister were seven years old. They haven’t seen him since.
“Mum gave us a terrific upbringing,” Mr Foley told AAP.
“She sacrificed a bit, as single parents tend to do, but we didn’t want for anything.
“It was a good, old-fashioned Catholic upbringing.”
But Mr Foley insists his faith is private and not something we’ll hear about too much during the campaign.
“I don’t seek to make a song and dance about it and I’d never seek to impose it on anyone,” he said.
Mr Foley joined the Labor Party as soon as he left school, signing up in university when he was 18.
He worked as a telemarketer for the Guide Dog Association of NSW while at university and went on to work as a unionist.
He served as Secretary of the Australian Services Union of NSW before becoming Assistant General Secretary of the Australian Labor Party from 2003-10.
Courtesy AAP Sky News and CathNews.