In just 10 weeks, two separate sexual assault allegations, a corruption inquiry and disloyalty have claimed four MPs from the Berejiklian government. So dire is the situation, the Coalition – which 10 years ago celebrated the largest electoral win in Australian history – is now barely clinging to power.
On Thursday, the Families, Communities and Disability Services Minister Gareth Ward became the subject of sexual violence allegations, which he denies.
Premier Gladys Berejiklian is popular with the people but her caution frustrates some within her government. Credit:Janie Barrett
Within hours of NSW Police confirming he was under investigation, Ward stepped down from the ministry and moved to the crossbench. Given the severity of the allegations, Ward had no choice, but his departure from the government benches leaves the Coalition in a precarious position.
NSW is the national success story of the pandemic. But underneath a layer of competency and achievement is a third-term government increasingly plagued with scandal, ill-discipline and growing division.
The Berejiklian government has been widely lauded for its handling of the pandemic, and rightly so. Aside from the Ruby Princess cruise ship saga in the early days of the crisis, NSW has sailed steadily through the past 17 months.
The government has managed to navigate the health threats facing the state, at the same time as keeping the economy afloat. Dire predictions of high unemployment have not eventuated, and the government’s handling of the outbreaks at the Crossroads Hotel last July, and on the northern beaches over Christmas prevented what could have been catastrophic had the virus taken hold.
Berejiklian is a popular figure in the eyes of voters, with a celebrity-like following. A salacious sex scandal would have certainly ended any other premier, yet Berejiklian’s handling of the revelation of her relationship with a man accused of corruption has only strengthened her appeal.
Berejiklian’s public popularity has cemented her leadership for as long as she wants it. If any ambitious colleague moved to unseat her, the voter backlash would be certain electoral death, especially because it would be a man knifing a woman. It is not an option.
This, however, does not mean senior members of her government are happy with the direction of the Coalition, or Berejiklian’s leadership, and what they perceive as a lack of vision and a cautious approach. Several remain bewildered, some angry, that Berejiklian emerged from last year’s corruption investigation into her secret boyfriend Daryl Maguire stronger than ever. They are also at pains to stress that the investigation remains a live issue and could still emerge as a significant problem for Berejiklian.
A recent interview in The Australian Financial Review – with the headline The Woman Who Saved Australia – infuriated some of her inner circle. Internal rumblings morphed into deep-seeded resentment. They are particularly annoyed by Berejiklilan’s claims that she led the charge to avoid further lockdowns at all costs. One senior minister said: “We had to talk her down from the ledge [during the Crossroads outbreak] and convince her not to shut the whole place down again. She is reinventing history.”
Gareth Ward has moved to the crossbench pending the police investigation.Credit:Louise Kennerley
The pandemic has saved Berejiklian’s premiership. But it will not stop the dysfunction that is slowly engulfing her government. Bad behaviour is becoming a familiar feature of Macquarie Street.
Ward is the second government MP to fall because of a sexual assault allegation. The Upper Hunter byelection next weekend was sparked by the resignation of former Nationals MP Michael Johnsen, who is accused of raping a sex worker, which he denies. Former Liberal minister John Sidoti has added to the government’s woes, forced out of cabinet and onto the crossbench as he faces a corruption inquiry.
And the expulsion of rebel MP Matthew Mason-Cox from the Liberals over his treachery in seizing the position of president of the upper house further highlights the division within the Coalition.
The byelection next weekend will be a flashpoint for the Coalition and Labor. If the Nationals hold it, the government edges back towards majority. If Labor loses, leader Jodi McKay is unlikely to survive. Her detractors are ready to strike.
The Opposition is weak. With the exception of prosecuting the deep-seated issues inside the troubled public insurer icare and highlighting the blatant pork-barrelling used in a council grants scheme, Labor has done little to seriously shake the government.
A senior NSW minister likes to say “bad opposition leads to bad government” and the minister is correct. Without a functioning Opposition, government accountability slides, which in turn breeds complacency and perpetuates mediocrity.
The Berejiklian government runs the risk of history repeating itself. In the dying days of the Labor government, the parliamentary party was dogged by bitter infighting, corruption, complacency and a complete loss of perspective on how a government should behave.
In his 2011 report into Labor’s “devastating” loss, party elder and former deputy premier John Watkins warned that “overwhelmed by scandal, intrigue and corruption, the [Labor] government lost interest in governing and the capacity to govern”. It was “self indulgent and self absorbed”.
The Coalition has not reached those levels yet, but it cannot bank on the pandemic to save it. Labor may not be in an election winning position, but without significant discipline, unity and humility, the Berejiklian government could fast find itself in the same “rapid, dramatic and comprehensive” free fall that put NSW Labor into the political wilderness.
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Alexandra Smith is the State Political Editor of The Sydney Morning Herald.
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2021-05-14 19:30:00Z
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