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Another two former Liberal ministers are currently suspended from parliament. Former families,communities and disability minister Gareth Ward is facing trial over a sexual assault charge,which he denies,while the Independent Commission Against Corruption found one-time sports minister John Sidoti engaged in serious misconduct,also denied. Significant baggage is starting to weigh down the government.
None of Perrottet’s challenges assure Labor victory,of course. Far from it. Labor has slowly been clawing its way back from the political wilderness it was thrown into after it was reduced to rump of just 20 seats in its disastrous landslide loss in 2011. But it has more clawing to do yet.
To govern in majority,Labor needs to pick up eight seats,which is a big task. It has its own internal demons to sort out,not least some tricky preselections involving sitting MPs.
As Perrottet would well know,his best hope is to sell his team as new and fresh. He replaced the popular former premier Gladys Berejiklian in the most politically palatable way. No coup,no knifing. He simply had the support of his party room when their leader was forced to go.
The rolling resignations ahead of the March poll do not necessarily need to be a negative if the premier can replace the old guard with new talent,especially women. His other big strength could be what turned out to be one of the weakest links for his federal colleagues at the May election. Unlike Scott Morrison,Perrottet has cottoned to the fact that voters want integrity in government.
He made this point in his budget estimates hearing on Wednesday. “I have implemented more integrity reforms[than anyone] to keep the highest standard in this parliament,” Perrottet said.
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When the federal Liberals,particularly Morrison,were using Berejiklian’s spectacular demise as an argument against the need for a federal integrity commission,Perrottet backed in the NSW corruption watchdog,even though it was the undoing of his former leader. When Morrison labelled the ICAC a “kangaroo court”,Perrottet warned he had gone too far. “ICAC plays an important role in upholding integrity and confidence in politicians and in public servants in our state,” Perrottet responded.
Perrottet was quick to distance himself from pork-barrelling,even though Berejiklian had shrugged her shoulders at the practice and said it was part of political life.
And on Wednesday,Perrottet took another step forward in his quest to convince voters that he takes probity in government seriously. In what started as an attack on Labor,he condemned his opponents for accepting donations from trade unions. But he went further and said he had serious concerns about donations to all Australian political parties,including his own,insisting he feels deeply uncomfortable about them. He vowed to look at what could be done to clean up the political process.
Perrottet inherited a decade-old government from a popular premier who led the state through some of the toughest times in living memory. He is no Berejiklian in the eyes of voters,but he has a sense of humour.
In his standout line at budget estimates on Wednesday,Perrottet said:“I’m not Scott Morrison here. I don’t run every single ministry.”
An unkind observer might suggest he could have to – if these darned defections keep up.
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