In the end the partyroom meeting was a formality. Dominic Perrottet was elected NSW premier by the NSW Liberal Party this morning. Not even a defiant challenge from long-time friend Rob Stokes or a global WhatsApp outage that stalled attempts to tally votes could stop him.
It’s an unsurprising victory: Perrottet was always seen as departing premier Gladys Berejiklian’s natural successor. And over the weekend it became clear his team had the numbers. By this morning Stokes justified staying in the race in order to give the partyroom a choice.
“We don’t live in North Korea,” he said.
In the end he got five votes to Perrottet’s 39. And with the formalities out of the way, Perrottet gets a chance to lay down his marker as the first party leader from the Liberal right in over a decade.
What changes?
Before Perrottet had even won the ballot, journalists were being backgrounded about him bringing forward the easing of lockdown restrictions in Sydney to this Friday.
At a press conference this morning, Perrottet appeared to hose that down, maintaining he was committed to Berejiklian’s reopening plan and saying he’d meet with the crisis cabinet this afternoon to discuss the roadmap. But he has always been fiercely pro-business, and a staunch opponent of lockdowns, pushing for them to be removed back in July. There’s every chance he could stamp his authority on the job by easing restrictions sooner.
If that doesn’t go according to plan, and COVID spreading among the unvaccinated seriously strains the health system, Perrottet could face some difficult early choices, especially with three byelections looming.
Perrottet, a devout Catholic, is far more openly conservative on social issues than Berejiklian or senior moderates like Environment Minister Matt Kean. An outspoken anti-choice advocate, he opposed decriminalising abortion (passed under Berejiklian) and will oppose a voluntary assisted dying bill set to be introduced soon.
While he maintains he’ll allow a conscience vote for Coalition MPs on the latter, a government he leads will have a more socially conservative tinge. Progressive thought-bubbles — like a proposal before cabinet to soften drug laws last year — are even more dead.
Climate will be another big test for whether a Perrottet government changes direction. Last week NSW committed to halving emissions by 2030, the latest sign the state government takes climate change more seriously than its federal counterparts. But much of that leadership has come from Kean, likely to be promoted to treasurer in a reshuffle. While Perrottet has in the past derided climate change as “a religion for the left” today he praised his government as “world-leading” on environment, and said earlier comments were made in respect of his fiscal conservatism.
Relationship with Canberra and beyond
On Sunrise this morning, Prime Minister Scott Morrison hosed down rumours of a tetchy relationship with Perrottet. “We’ve got an honest relationship. When we disagree, we disagree. But the next day we get back to work,” he said.
Morrison was being asked about reports from August that he’d lost his cool at Perrottet, dropping the “f-bomb” in a phone call finalising details of financial support for NSW. The then-NSW treasurer had broken ranks with the federal government by repeatedly calling for JobKeeper to be reinstated in response to the Sydney outbreak.
A change in leadership could have some difficult federal implications for the Liberals. While Morrison’s political opponents accuse him of showing favouritism towards his home state, Berejiklian’s personal popularity was useful to him in a state crucial to the Coalition’s reelection chances. Now the prime minister can’t rely on riding on Berejiklian’s coat-tails.
At a state level it’s given more hope for the opposition, which has played a clever hand through the NSW outbreak under the new leadership of Chris Minns. Minns is yet to face a serious test, but Perrottet’s apparent reactionary views on social issues gives Labor plenty of ammunition.
But a religious conservative could play well for the Liberals among some voters in western Sydney, the key battleground for the next state election and the part of the country with the most “No” votes in the 2017 marriage equality postal survey.
With lockdowns, byelections and a federal poll all looming, Perrottet’s first few months will be frantic. But 2023 is still a long way off, and he’s got plenty of time to make his mark.
Awesome.
Another hard right God-botherer in a position of power.
Needed like a hole in the head.
Agree, Kimba! Wouldn’t it be nice if these religious lunatics in politics…and their supporters…remembered that Australia is a SECULAR country under our Constitution? Seems most people have forgotten that!!
…. Isn’t that what religion was invented for?
Who better to blame when your schemes blow up in everyone else’s face?
Usually it’s China they blame to distract us!
But how much better, not to mention higher, than “Don’t blame me. My god made/let me do it.”?
Or, why bother with climate change or affordable housing or any of the myriad problems. It’s all in gods hands. Hawaii for a holiday anyone?
They are everywhere in power circles, defying the hoped for extinction. Is Australia regressing to the 1600’s?
Mediaeval, reactionary, repressive, regressive, primitive, superstitious, pontifical, our new but archaic leader in NSW…
We will see how THE POPE goes against THE PENTECOSTAL over the next few months. I reckon there will be love all over the place till after the next Federal election, then blood on the floor and walls.
I think both opus dei and the Pentecostal cults have much in common, it would be the poaching of cult members that would be an unwelcome sign of aggression. Other than that, all good, by the way Pastor Brian Houston is due to appear in court today.
It would be good to see Houston do sometime in the bin but I would not be surprised he gets off completely. Maybe he could use the same allegedly corrupt lawyers as Porter did. He would not be able to use Gladys’s new boyfriend as he will be busy defending her and Ben Roberts Smith.
Wouldn’t be surprised. Our judiciary knows which side their bread is buttered. How many catholic or CoE church leaders have been up for similar cover up charges. None! Despite overwhelming evidence…
So much for separation of powers!
I was more meaning the clash of the personalities and egos between the two. THE PENTECOSTAL has already told him to F… off in a heated phone call.
They look close to ousiders, but back in the old days the pope was the antichrist to evangelicals, and evangelicals were heretics to catholics. There’s less burning at the stake these days, but Civil Wars are often the most brutal. I agree thought, they’ll play nice in public. I’m sure they’re all just thrilled by their extraordinary ascent to power for the moment. Consolidating it for your personal sub-cult comes later.
And they’re all supposed to be on the same side! They sprang from the Jewish culture they used to hate, but now ‘don’t agree with’. And are closely aligned with the Muslim culture which they ‘hate’. And repudiate all other cultures for being ‘pagan non believers, destined for hell’. You have to wonder if they ever reflect or wonder, that just maybe it’s all BS…
So, everyone’s forgotten about iCare have they?
Emma Crikey Worm:
Perrottet’s 2016 Facebook posts
Donald Trump’s election win “a victory for people who have been taken for granted by the elites”.
“If you question man-made climate change, you are not a sceptic.”
Not defending him but that was in 2016.
Any evidence that He has changed?
No. He’s a pious prig and a master truth bender like most politicians who ascend the celestial ladder to the top, especially the ones who think they are chosen.
You have to respect the intellect of someone who says that questioning something doesn’t make you a sceptic. It’s like saying that being a bull doesn’t mean you produce bulls***.
That’s a bit too complex a thought for most to navigate.