Elliott was in a tough preselection battle last year and Perrottet encouraged him to fight on. But the 52-year-old former army captain found himself without enough support to contest the seat of Castle Hill,which is dominated by members of Perrottet’s hard-right faction.
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As theHerald’s Tom Rabe reported in October,the nature of Elliott’s downfall – edged out by internal factional rivals aligned with Perrottet – has prompted debate within the government over whether he will use his final days in parliament to settle political scores. Do we now know the answer to that question?
Elliott is one of several senior NSW cabinet ministers to leave politics in March. The months between a retirement announcement and polling day can be used to either do good,or get even.
Cities Minister Rob Stokes is someone who has used his departure window for good. In two important and considered contributions to NSW parliament ahead of his exit,Stokes blasted the pubs and clubs lobby and made powerful arguments for how to curb their influence.
In a November speech,he said the “once friendly,familiar local club – a traditional locus for thriving community – has been distorted and disfigured” and warned that areas with the lowest-paid workers have some of the highest losses to poker machines.
Three days prior to Christmas he also urged NSW politicians to ban registered clubs from donating to political parties,noting an “outrageous loophole” allows their financial support to come directly from poker machine profits. He made a compelling and overlooked point that while a business involved in wagering,betting or other gambling,including the manufacture of poker machines is banned,a registered club that generates 90 per cent of its income from pokies is perfectly entitled to donate to political campaigns.
Compare these contributions to the blundering effort by Elliott on Friday,which added nothing of substance to such an important debate. It was so destructive that NSW Labor – which does not support cashless gaming cards – gleefully distributed the transcript of Elliott’s rant to political reporters. With friends like Elliott,Perrottet hardly needs enemies.
TheHerald strongly supports a cashless gaming card and urges the premier and other important,credible figures in this debate to ignore the vested interests and bitter political has-beens who seek to block change.
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