Reba Meagher quits NSW politics

Former NSW health minister Reba Meagher has quit politics.
The Cabramatta MP announced she was retiring immediately after 14 years in parliament.
She resigned as health minister last Friday, shortly before Morris Iemma announced
he was standing down as premier.
She quit the frontbench after a turbulent period as a minister.
Ms Meagher issued a statement saying she was retiring as an MP.
"After 14 years as a parliamentarian, representing the electorate of Cabramatta, I
have decided to retire, as of (Saturday)," she said.
"It has been a source of great honour and pride to represent such a dynamic and rich
multicultural centre of Sydney."
A spokeswoman for Ms Meagher confirmed the retirement, which had been announced in
the form of an email sent to AAP early Saturday afternoon.
"She was handing out how-to-vote cards at Cabramatta for the council elections
(Saturday) morning when she decided it was time for a change," the spokeswoman told
AAP.
"In her words: `It's time to take a break'."
Ms Meagher had not decided on a future career path, she said.
"She is considering her options but will remain a committed and loyal member of the
Labor Party."
The resignation means a by-election will be necessary for her seat of Cabramatta, in
addition to those already required in Ryde and Lakemba following the departures of
John Watkins and Morris Iemma, respectively.
A date for the Cabramatta by-election was a matter for Premier Nathan Rees, Ms
Meagher's spokeswoman told AAP.
The health portfolio was an undeniably challenging one for Ms Meagher, as the
state's health system lurched from one crisis to another.
After leaving the portfolio last week, Ms Meagher said she decided not to contest
the ballot for a position in the new Labor ministry.
"I have devoted more than 20 years to the Australian Labor Party, and I have always
done what's in the best interests of the ALP and the government," she said at the
time.
She said it was a difficult time for the state's health system.
"There are major challenges facing the health system, but I want to praise our
doctors, nurses and paramedics who are on the frontline everyday doing their very
best," she said.
Her resignation places the Labor in an unenviable position and caps a difficult
first week for NSW Premier Nathan Rees as he struggles to claw back credibility for
his new but already damaged government.
Mr Rees on Friday dumped beleaguered Labor MP Noreen Hay as the parliamentary
secretary for health and administrative committee representative.
A day earlier, Mr Rees sacked police minister Matt Brown for lying to him about
dancing in his underpants in his office at a post-budget party at parliament house
in June, where he was alleged to have straddled Ms Hay's chest.
Earlier in the week, Mr Rees admitted the state budget would drop from a $268
million surplus in June to an expected $1 billion deficit.
Low points in Ms Meagher's 17 months as health minister came when a woman miscarried
in an emergency room toilet in Sydney's Royal North Shore Hospital last September,
and when sewage was found seeping into general wards and operating theatres during a
$100 million redevelopment of Bathurst Hospital in February.