The downfall of John Robertson: What's next for NSW Labor?

After nearly four years in the opposition leader's job, John Robertson has been denied at the last minute the opportunity to contest an election. Photo: David Porter

The final seeds of the destruction of John Robertson's leadership of the NSW ALP were sown in the middle of the week before last.

It was then that the opposition leader was handed the 2011 letter of request he signed for a man who had only days earlier taken his place as one of the most reviled figures in Australian history Lindt cafe siege gunman Man Haron Monis.

The office knew the discovery of the letter he signed for Monis in relation to a child custody matter believed to be by a member of his Blacktown electorate staff was political dynamite.

The contenders: Michael Daley and Luke Foley. Photo: Jonathan Carroll, Dallas Kilponen

Robertson's instinct was for immediate full public disclosure a view no doubt given weight by the fear the letter could surface with disastrous consequences during the election campaign in early 2015.

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His staff also knew that because the letter was sent to the Department of Community Services, the government would eventually become aware of its existence. There really was no choice, they argued.

Besides, releasing the letter would allow Robertson to get on the front foot and announce its existence while explaining what he believed was the entirely routine nature of the document; that it was no more than a local MP's basic courtesy for a constituent. Or so the thinking went.

Kerry Chikarovski and Peter Collins. Chikarovski replaced Collins as Liberal leader three months out from the 1999 election. Photo: Robert Pearce

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The downfall of John Robertson: What's next for NSW Labor?