The Coalition’s election campaign and victory in NSW on Saturday shows just how different Mike Baird is from his party colleague Tony Abbott.
Baird took a reform proposal on electricity privatisation that voters demonstrably disliked to an election and won. The NSW Premier might be every bit as socially conservative as the PM — but he presents the image of a politician interested in achieving the best outcomes for his state, rather than a partisan pugilist and ideologue.
Abbott demonstrated how little he had learned from the leadership spill against him when he declared that his strength was in fighting Labor. Baird’s strength has been in governing well and articulating the case for reform where he believes it serves the interests of NSW. Voters have rewarded that, while Abbott remains profoundly unpopular.
As for NSW Labor, it has yet to demonstrate that it has fully understood the lessons of its 2011 defeat. It sought to sneak back into power through a dishonest, xenophobic scare campaign rather than genuinely reforming itself to remove the possibility it would ever again produce an Eddie Obeid or Ian Macdonald. Labor needs to take a hard look at itself, or risk the fate that it will never govern in its own right in NSW again.
“Bambi”? Different style, same substance.
Could someone please buy Labor a mirror?
Absolute rubbish crikey.
Baird won because, as always, he bribed Western Sydney and ignored the rest of the state as irrelevant.
In the Hunter we had Labor returned all across the board.
As usual, the regions suffer in NSW while Sydney grows fat on OUR money. Labor or Liberal, it means nothing to Newcastle. Both parties treat us with contempt. Always have, always will. As far as election outcomes are concerned we are nothing. We’re a region the size of Tasmania with a tenth of the representation in our national parliament. Treated with contempt.
Baird won because he wasn’t Labor. Labor lost because it has spent all the time on attack advertising and examining in detail its own anus.
The Greens gained in the regions because both parties couldn’t give a toss about anyone outside Sydney.
“Baird’s strength has been in governing well and articulating the case for reform where he believes it serves the interests of NSW.”
Baird’ strength was not being NSW Labor, who haven’t been forgiven for Obeid. (Especially not by the press, Crikey included, who seemed more interested in pointing out Foley’s faults, despite the fact he was always tipped to lose, rather than putting the front runner under the microscope)
Baird was ahead in the polls pre-election season by about the same margin he won, and privatisation just as unpopular before as it was after. Stating lessons from this result is more a reflection of the person writing them than solid analysis.
“Labor needs to take a hard look at itself, or risk the fate that it will never govern in its own right in NSW again.”
I look forward to Crikey publishing an article that does the working out on this statement. Off current results it sounds like one of Rupert’s twitter brain farts.
As glad as I for the recent gains by the Greens, not just down amongst the yoghurt weavers of Newtown & Balmain – watch out Grayndler, I wonder why their overall vote fell, albeit a miniscule 0.1% – were some Greens holding the nose in seats where there was a chance of Labor winning because they don’t understand preferential voting? Surely not?