Premier Gladys Berejiklian and NSW Opposition Leader Jodi McKay slugged it out in Parliament House this week as if their political futures depended on it.
Both NSW political leaders want to deliver a knock-out punch. All observers agree they are on the ropes and that neither can last the course. The Coalition has lost confidence in Berejiklian and NSW Labor has lost confidence in McKay.
If either leader were to face a party room vote of confidence, they would lose. Berejiklian may scramble together a dozen votes from her MPs while McKay would attract about half of that.
They aren’t being overthrown yet because neither side can agree on a suitable replacement. Party rooms are gripped by inertia – and lack of talent.
Ashleigh Raper, the ABC’s NSW political reporter, epitomises the fast pace of events in Macquarie Street. When Premier Berejiklian dropped a bucket on McKay in question time on Tuesday, the reporter adopted the Coalition’s script and reported that the Labor leader’s days were numbered.
Only a few days earlier, Raper had suggested that the Premier was a lost cause. The Coalition’s script had changed and so had Raper’s.
McKay had co-signed a letter for a Tamil refugee to be released. Neither the refugee advocate who sought the letter nor McKay knew that the refugee had been convicted in 2017 of assaulting a 13-year-old girl in 2016 and sentenced to one year’s jail.
MPs are asked for their support for refugees all the time, and it is to McKay’s credit that she signed up. “In providing a cover note for my constituent (a refugee advocate) I was doing what MPs always do,” McKay said. “We are all here to serve our communities and, in this instance, I was simply helping my constituent.” She had signed a pro forma letter which “categorically does not constitute a letter of support”.
She was subjected to a withering attack by Labor’s Hugh McDermott, MP for Prospect, whose Labor heroes are linked to the American CIA, ironworkers’ union leader Laurie Short and NSW Labor Council boss John Ducker.
McDermott, a former soldier who has embroidered his military career, apologising when caught out, immediately generated an avalanche of hostile media publicity against McKay, claiming she had made a “shocking error of judgment”. McDermott, a serial embarrassment to the ALP, has never made such an error, it seems.
No one asked whether the Coalition would have mounted its orchestrated attack if the refugee was, like Ms Berejiklian, an Armenian. Why did everyone join the Coalition’s racist dog-whistling so enthusiastically?
What was more shocking about the Coalition’s hi-jinks was that Ms Berejiklian’s long list of corrupt practices – land deals with former minister Daryl Maguire, her secret lover and potential husband – were “forgotten”, while Labor’s Jodi McKay became the corrupt leader de jour. You have to hand it to the Coalition managers: in a single question time they managed to shift the spotlight from the Premier to the Opposition Leader. It was a triumph for Liberal Party hypocrisy and cynicism, and the media fell for it.
Ms Berejiklian’s troubles deepened when the outfit called INSW responsible for infrastructure selection, approval and promotion, announced a “world first”: the only museum deliberately built in a high-risk flood zone – at Parramatta where high velocity floodwaters two to three metres deep will flow underneath the building creating a memorable spectacle. The cost? The Coalition estimates $840 million, but it will clearly be much more than that.
But wait! There’s more. Premier Berejiklian has another trophy for her mantelpiece. Of the world’s 30 “global cities”, Sydney rates 30th for the number of museums. Surely, that is worth a story in the media?
In the Upper House, a Greens motion by David Shoebridge MP got up by 23 votes to 16 ordering the Government to hand over all documents detailing how it shovelled $177 million in bushfire grants to Coalition-held seats while only a measly 2% went to constituencies held by Labor, Greens or Shooters, Farmers and Fishers. Only Fred Nile joined the Coalition to vote against transparency and accountability for the bushfire rort.
Bushfire Rorts: Coalition targets bushfire recovery funds for Coalition seats
But it was explosive revelations by Tony Harris, former NSW Auditor-General, which really damaged the Premier. He revealed that documents relating to spending millions of dollars in Coalition seats had been removed by staff and destroyed.
Shredding official documents is tantamount to perverting the course of justice. It is a criminal offence and anyone convicted could be jailed.
But Ms Berejiklian brushed aside the complaints and said – as she always does – that she had done nothing wrong. Really?
If a NSW citizen received $250 million and the ATO asked where it came from, it would be a foolish person who replied that the documents had been shredded. You would end up in jail.
Harris appeared to suggest that the destruction of Cabinet documents had ended Ms Berejiklian’s premiership and she should resign forthwith. The pressure mounts …
This article also appears on his blog, cometherevolution.com.au
Alex Mitchell is a former State Political Editor of Sydney’s Sun-Herald and a regular Friday contributor to John Menadue’s Pearls & Irritations. His latest book is Murder in Melbourne – The Untold Story of Palestinian exchange student Aiia Maasarwe.
Comments
13 responses to “Scandal spoils Gladys farewell party”
The Premier will soon be back in the ICAC dock, stay tuned. Yes the cruise ship debacle was a shining lite 4 the premier as with the regional and bushfire grant barrelling. There are people still without a home and yet Glad allocated bushfire funding to a parachute jump business on the north coast, continues to approve coal mines, motorways in Sydney, more destructive dams, etc etc.
Relish the day when the Virgin Queen of Pork-barrelling, Gladys Maguire departs hopefully along with Jodi McKay whose real error of judgement was her reckless betrayal of her Labor colleague, Shaoquett Moselmane; both ‘leaders’ were menials of Alan Jones.
What nonsense as Gladys has done a good job leading the State through the pandemic and demonstrating good judgment in terms of balancing the pandemic risks vis management of the economy! No other State has managed the competing challenges as effectively!
Sure she made a personal error of judgment hanging with Maguire, who hasn’t! Hasn’t effected his duties!
The unfortunate shredding of the documents relating to the Electoral funds allocated was clearly inappropriate, however, I am unaware that she was complicate in that action
The Premier has communicated tirelessly and very effectively during the pandemic
Show me another Premier that has served their State as well!
May i suggest that there is overwhelming support for Gladys!
Trevor
Trevor C Rowe AO
Of course you exonerate Berejiklian, why wouldn’t you!
Being the beneficiary of an AO which covers such interesting history of Rothschild’s, Salomon Brothers Wall Street et al, there’s an interesting history within those walls as well. Yes, there is a rather established system that bestows ‘awards’ for recognition of Australians, but that system has also become corrupted as well and has no alignment with ordinary Australians that go beyond the call of service to their communities, at great cost to themselves. So, the question remains, what exactly is service?
Ah, for clarification, a late family member of mine also acquired an AO gong, but thru his own physical hard work of many decades as well.
I down voted his comment. Havent down voted a AO before. Life still has untasted pleasures.
Indeed.
You may – and there isn’t. Your spelling mistakes do not help your case.
“Show me another Premier that has served their State as well!”
I’m afraid I disagree with you re the COVID-19 response. *cough* cruise ships *cough*!
Here’s one who’s served their state far better: Anastacia Palascuk.
With all due respect.
Trev is Dazza hung? Explains the whole scandal. Thanks.
Oh jolly gosh what a whole lot of nonsense you silly people, oh be off with you…
Doc we are truly honoured to have Trev commenting. Chairman of Rothschild’s Australia. Got his gong for services to the finance “industry”. We are blessed to have Trev’s sage advice.
I am getting those CIA references you requested.
The sooner that Berejiklian is despatched and convicted for criminal actions, the better off the NSW environment and its remaining Koalas will be. That could also put paid to any ongoing remuneration via
Parliamentary Pension schemes. How is it that people like this are paid for destruction?
Of course, a Royal Commission and an ICAC investigation will be needed to remove the gangrene that remains within the NSW Liberal Party, in addition to all its lobbyists, supporters and those that carry out deliberate abuse, financial and otherwise.
Then she take up her real position, on her broomstick!