New South Wales Premier Dominic Perrottet has denied his government is in disarray after scandals triggered the resignation of a key minister and a factional powerbroker nearly one month out from the state election.
Factional heavyweight Peter Poulos was suspended from the Liberals on Saturday and leaves a hole in the party’s upper house ticket after it emerged he had circulated X-rated photographs of a parliamentary colleague during a past preselection battle.
That came less than a day after the state government’s Finance Minister, one of the Premier’s closest political allies, Damien Tudehope, quit cabinet after failing to disclose shares in Transurban which makes about $1.5 billion a year from running Sydney toll roads.
“All organisations have their challenges,” the Premier said on Sunday, shifting focus to the Liberal Party when asked about the unexpected vacancies in cabinet and the upper house.
“The organisation needs to deal with matters that affect the organisation.”
Compromising photograph
It is not clear how the Premier reacted to later news that an outgoing member of his cabinet, who was recently behind the emergence of another scandal, was putting himself forward to fill the void Mr Poulos had left in the upper house.
Transport Minister David Elliott made a phone call to “warn” the Premier in January that a damaging photograph was circulating, prompting his shock admission about having worn a Nazi uniform to his 21st birthday party 20 years ago.
Mr Elliott, a factional ally of former PM Scott Morrison who is best known for sleeping through a decision to shut down Sydney’s train network recently ousted from his lower house seat, has put himself forward to fill the upper house spot.
Others in the Liberal Party named party vice president Jacqui Munro and ousted MP Melanie Gibbons as potential replacements.
Staying on message
Mr Perrottet sought to keep the focus on policy on Sunday as he unveiled a plan to allow pharmacists to prescribe the contraceptive pill and urinary tract infections to reduce demands on GPs.
“(This will) make a real difference to families and women right across NSW in modernising our health system,” he said.
Meanwhile an investigator last week failed to locate two of the premier’s brothers, Jean-Claude and Charles Perrottet, while trying to serve them with a summons to appear before a parliamentary inquiry into property developers’ donations to a Sydney council.
That inquiry was triggered by allegations made under parliamentary privilege by a Liberal MP who is also factionally aligned to Mr Elliott and Mr Morrison, Ray Williams.
Mr Poulos circulated the images of Liberal MP Robyn Preston – which were taken for a magazine photo shoot – during a hard-fought preselection battle for the seat of Hawkesbury five years ago.
Mr Perrottet said he had sought legal advice from a government department about whether Mr Tudehope, a member of the Premier’s small inner circle, had knowingly violated ministerial rules.
The Premier said Mr Tudehope had been cleared but did not release the advice.
NSW voters will go to the polls on March 25.
