Rapid rise... after less than seven years in Parliament, Kristina Keneally overthrew Nathan Rees 47 votes to 21 to become Premier. Credit:Brendan Esposito But Ms Keneally's reign will be tainted from day one after the man she ousted, Nathan Rees, declared yesterday morning: ''Should I not be Premier by the end of this day, let there be no doubt in the community's mind, no doubt, that any challenger will be a puppet of Eddie Obeid and Joe Tripodi.'' Ms Keneally later retorted in Parliament when confronted with Opposition questions about Mr Rees's comments: ''Let me be absolutely clear on this: I'm nobody's puppet. I am nobody's protege, I am nobody's girl.'' Sources from the Right said Ms Keneally beat her predecessor as planning minister, Frank Sartor, in a Right caucus ballot by 25 votes to 22 to win its endorsement to take on Mr Rees at a meeting of the full caucus last night. Mr Sartor was understood to be angry at the ''betrayal'' by John Della Bosca and Tony Kelly. He believed they voted against him and cost him the premiership. A spill motion in caucus was won 43-25, with some Right votes spilling behind Mr Rees.

The 47-21 vote for premier reflected the Left faction siding with Mr Rees and the Right faction aligning with Ms Keneally, barring one or two votes. Ms Keneally won the leadership without the backing of Labor's head office but had the support of the powerbrokers and enemies of Mr Rees, Eddie Obeid, Joe Tripodi, John Della Bosca and Ian Macdonald. At a news conference last night Ms Keneally said she had challenged Mr Rees for the leadership so she could heal the party of divisions. She said she would not put Mr Tripodi back into cabinet, saying he was a ''good minister'' but his time had passed. But she would not rule out giving Mr Della Bosca and Mr Macdonald ministries. She said she had offered Mr Sartor a ministry and wanted to talk to Mr Rees about a senior role in government. She denied she was a puppet, saying she had exercised her own mind since she was a ''little girl'' and rang a talkback radio station in the US at age eight to tell a bishop girls should be allowed to become altar servers.

She said: ''Governments earn trust from the community. I intend to restore that trust.'' At a news conference at 9am yesterday Mr Rees prepared the groundwork for Ms Keneally's opponents by claiming a vote against him was a vote against the integrity of government. ''I will not hand the Government of NSW over to Obeid, Tripodi or Sartor,'' he said. ''Under my leadership there will be no going back. The old regime will never again dictate the fortunes of our party, nor will they regain the levers of control.'' Ms Keneally was backed into the job by Mr Tripodi three weeks after Mr Rees axed him from cabinet. She was seen in Mr Tripodi's office yesterday. Powerbrokers decided to move after a Herald poll on Saturday found Mr Tripodi's sacking gave no bounce to the Government's standing.

Mr Sartor failed despite the backing of Labor's state president, Bernie Riordan, and the general secretary, Matt Thistlethwaite. When it became clear Mr Sartor would not beat Ms Keneally, Mr Thistlethwaite approached the Deputy Premier, Carmel Tebbutt, to stand but she declined. Loading A Rees supporter questioned why Mr Thistlethwaite had gone to Mr Sartor. ''I think we mightn't be having this conversation if he'd stuck with Rees. I think that was a tactical blunder.'' But a senior Labor source said Mr Rees would have had more chance of saving his job had he not come out with his ''puppet'' quote about Ms Keneally.