Tebbutt set to become NSW deputy premier

(AAP) Carmel Tebbutt will make history on Friday when she is voted in as the first female deputy premier of NSW.

The Member for Marrickville will be handed the role during a meeting of the Labor
caucus, where Premier Morris Iemma's leadership will come under pressure amid
demands he dump Treasurer Michael Costa as part of a sweeping cabinet reshuffle.
"Is he going to stick to Costa or not, that's the question now," one Labor source
told AAP.
Police Minister David Campbell played down the prospect of a leadership spill.
"I am very confident that Morris Iemma will be the premier of NSW leading in to the
next election," he told Macquarie Radio.
"And once we get the ministry in place after tomorrow, those people will support him
in winning that election."
Ms Tebbutt was unanimously endorsed on Thursday by the party's Left faction, which
traditionally selects the deputy premier, following the shock resignation of John
Watkins on Wednesday.
The former Carr and Iemma government minister said she and her family had benefited
from her time on the backbench after Labor was re-elected in March last year. She
had stepped out of frontline politics to care for her young son.
The time was now right for something more challenging, she said.
"At the time I made my decision 18 months ago to step back to the backbench for a
period of time, I said that it wouldn't necessarily be for ever," she told
reporters.
Mr Iemma is expected to come under intense pressure on Friday to dump Mr Costa, who
recently threatened to quit unless his Labor colleagues accepted a raft of
controversial reforms and public sector cutbacks.
Earlier this week, the premier publicly told Mr Costa to "zip the mouth," get on
with the job and stop brawling with the party's backbenchers.
Mr Iemma's reshuffle, sparked by Mr Watkins' resignation for family reasons, is
expected to result in a dramatically different cabinet line-up.
Water Minister Nathan Rees, who has been touted as a future premier, is expected to
take on a senior portfolio regardless of a leadership spill.
Health Minister Reba Meagher is thought to be headed for a demotion, with Planning
Minister Frank Sartor considered a contender for the health portfolio.
Former Parramatta mayor David Borger, Labor's Member for Granville, has been
selected by the left to fill the cabinet position vacated by his factional colleague
Phil Koperberg, who stood down as climate change minister for health reasons.
Labor's dominant Right faction will meet on Friday morning before the general caucus
meeting.
The NSW Opposition said the reshuffle would not rejuvenate a "tired" Labor government.
"If Carmel Tebbutt is the hope of the side, NSW has serious problems," Liberal
leader Barry O'Farrell said.