
Chris Minns will spend the weekend drafting MPs into his shadow cabinet, ahead of his first sitting week as NSW opposition leader.
The 41-year-old Kogarah MP declared on Friday that the 2023 election campaign had begun, just hours after he was elected leader of the NSW parliamentary Labor party.
He is expected to unveil his front bench line-up next week, though on Friday he would not commit to having it set by the time parliament resumes on Tuesday.
It's a busy month for the NSW parliament, with Treasurer Dominic Perrottet set to hand down the budget on June 22.
There's likely to be fresh blood in the mix when Mr Minns does reveal his leadership team.
"There are some fantastic people that need to have a shot on the frontbench, they need frontline responsibilities...I'm very excited about giving them the opportunity to do that," he said.
Mr Minns' nomination for the leadership was unopposed at a caucus meeting on Friday morning, after rival Michael Daley pulled out.
One reason cited by Mr Daley for his decision was to give Mr Minns time over the weekend to start calling up colleagues to sound them out for shadow portfolios.
Both Mr Minns and Mr Daley claim the party is now unified, despite the bitter divisions that led to Jodi McKay stepping down.
There is bound to be scrutiny on whether those seen to be in Mr Daley's camp - including Ms McKay, former deputy leader Yasmin Catley and Mr Daley himself - are given frontbench spots.
Mr Daley said on Friday he'd be happy to serve if tapped by Mr Minns, but that he hadn't asked for a spot in exchange for his decision to pull out.
Ms McKay tweeted her support for Mr Minns on Friday afternoon.
She had previously suggested she stepped down from the leadership because Mr Minns' supporters never accepted his loss against her in the 2019 leadership battle.
Australian Associated Press