That plan was laughed off,not least because there had been a recent spate of fires on buses,so the idea of putting hundreds of buses in a tunnel underground was seen as a disaster waiting to happen. Broad soon left Infrastructure NSW. More recently,he was the long-term boss of Snowy Hydro 2.0 but exited swiftly after clashing with the new federal energy minister,Chris Bowen. Broad left behind a delayed and over-budget project.
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Broad had spent decades reforming government agencies and Perrottet defends the appointment,saying he was “highly regarded,and his experience in water,engineering and infrastructure is second to none in this country”.
Kean was never going to embrace Broad given he had described NSW’s much-touted energy road map – Kean’s pride and joy – as “fundamentally flawed”. Yet,Kean aside,Broad’s appointment is curious.
Berejiklian often spoke about picking up the phone to leading business experts,such as Atlassian’s Scott Farquhar,for advice. Such is the power of a premier. Perrottet would have had the same access to the likes of Broad without putting him on the payroll four months from the election.
An even more curious appointment,for a very different reason,was recruiting Scott Morrison’s former chief political adviser,Yaron Finkelstein,to Perrottet’s office. As my colleagues Peter Hartcher and James Massola laid out in their series on the downfall of Morrison,Finkelstein was one of the masterminds behind much of Morrison’s election campaign. The very campaign that saw Morrison comprehensively kicked out of power amid a teal wave that engulfed NSW. Perhaps Finkelstein’s brief is to tell Perrottet’s team whatnot to do in an election campaign.
The split between the premier and the treasurer played out spectacularly in parliament this week when Kean refused to support Perrottet’s captain’s pick in Broad. But that split is not new. Dysfunction has been slowly setting in. Kean is Perrottet’s deputy but,like the Coalition’s pairing,their relationship is largely one of convenience. Labor MPs say leading business figures have often asked them to explain the obvious rift between Kean and Perrottet.
If the teals manage to gain ground in NSW in March,or if tensions escalate between the premier and his treasurer,Perrottet will have the most to lose. He needs Kean’s moderates to keep him in the top job and those moderates will not tolerate losing any of their heartland to independents who are Liberals by another name.
Similarly,if Perrottet pulls off a victory,it will be in part because Kean kept the teals at bay. And that would also present a risk for Perrottet’s longevity in the leadership.
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Regardless of the election outcome,the pair’s relationship appears doomed to become more chaotic,much like the Coalition this week.
Alexandra Smith is state political editor.
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