The new NSW Opposition Leader has been bombarded by hecklers during her first day on the job.
Protesters laid in wait at Parramatta Square in western Sydney as newly-installed Opposition Leader Kellie Sloane, 52, attended a photo opportunity on Saturday.
The Opposition Leader was ‘delighted’ to be in the district as she warmed to the job.
Despite the niceties, however, hecklers made their presence known by shouting at and accosting the new leader during her street walk.
She was accused of being a leader for ‘developers and billionaires’ by her opponents on the street who pointed and shouted at her.
The Vaucluse MP said she was happy to sit down and talk through their ‘tough’ concerns.
‘Liberals only care about buying investment properties in the west, that’s all they care about,’ one protester said, according to the Daily Telegraph.
‘I like to sit down with someone face-to-face and have those conversations,’ Ms Sloane replied.
Newly installed Opposition Leader Kellie Sloane was heckled on her first day in the job
Protestors laid in wait in Parramatta on Saturday
Ms Sloane said the majority of her encounters had been between ‘fair, decent-minded people’ who were willing to have ‘constructive conversations’.
‘They’re the conversations I want to have, because politics doesn’t have to be precious,’ she said.
The reason she went to Parramatta was due to its position as the ‘geographic heart of our city’ and its status as the ‘engine room of our state’, she said.
There she made her pitch for people to ‘come together and problem solve without division of leadership’.
Former NSW premiers Gladys Berejiklian and Mike Baird, as well as federal Liberal Leader Sussan Ley, have all wished Ms Sloane well as she steps into the job.
Ms Sloane is a first-term MP and has become the Liberals’ newest leader as the ailing NSW party tries to shore up its footing 18 months out from a crucial election.
The former Nine TV presenter completed her meteoric ascent to the top of the NSW Liberals after the chaotic aftermath of the federal Liberals’ election wipe-out tarnished its state brands and fuelled calls for fresh faces.
Her predecessor, Mark Speakman, gave way to pressure on Thursday, announcing his resignation and throwing his weight behind fellow moderate Ms Sloane who was elected unopposed at a party room meeting on Friday morning.
Ms Sloane said she was willing to have constructive talks with anyone
The one-term MP was appointed to her new position on Friday
Ms Sloane, a mother of three, enjoyed a decades-long career as a journalist and news presenter before teaming up with Healthy Harold to lead not-for-profit Life Education NSW.
Defeated in pre-selection for former premier Gladys Berejiklian’s Willoughby seat in 2022, Ms Sloane was comfortably elected as MP for the eastern Sydney electorate of Vaucluse at the 2023 state election and rapidly appointed to the opposition frontbench under Mr Speakman.
Ms Sloane is the second woman this week to have deposed a male state Liberal leader after Victoria’s coalition opposition dumped Brad Battin in favour of first-term MP Jess Wilson.
While both women will be hoping to turn things around before their next state elections, Ms Sloane faces an uphill battle.
No first-term opposition has won an election in NSW or federally since the 1930s while recent polls suggest the coalition would lose more seats to Labor if an election was held today.
The next NSW election is March 2027.