‘Greatest Environment Minister in Australian history’: Catherine Cusack reveals Matt Kean’s brag
A MP leaving the Liberal Party claims Matt Kean described himself as the “greatest Environment Minister in Australian history”, after reigniting the NSW Coalition’s “koala wars”.
NSW
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Outgoing Liberal MP Catherine Cusack has unleashed on Treasurer Matt Kean during a debate over a bill to protect koalas, claiming the treasurer once told her: “I’m one of the greatest, probably the greatest Environment Minister in Australian history.”
Ms Cusack sensationally revealed private conversations from the infamous koala wars that almost split the NSW Coalition government in 2020 to the Upper House on Wednesday night as she prepares to leave parliament.
Ms Cusack took aim at Mr Kean by revealing he privately said he was the “greatest Environment Minister in Australian history” and had encouraged her to condemn then deputy premier John Barilaro to the media.
“Matt Kean contacted me and asked: ‘Have you thought about going out and slamming the Nats on this koala thing?’. I replied: ‘Sure, if that’s what people want’,” Ms Cusack said.
“He phoned me and assured me that that is what Premier Gladys Berejiklian wanted.”
“It was clear that Adam Marshall had changed the bill from what was approved in cabinet and it should not have even been in parliament.”
Ms Cusack said later she told the party room she could not vote for the bill — a decision that prompted Ms Berejiklian to call her for a meeting on the morning of the debate.
“She (Ms Berejiklian) sent Matt Kean to see me … I said: ‘Matt, this bill is a stain on your reputation as environment minister’ and he was angry and said: ‘That’s rubbish. I’m one of the greatest, probably the greatest Environment Minister in Australian history’. I was stunned and thought he was joking, but he wasn’t. He started talking about his energy bill,” Ms Cusack said.
“I said: ‘What about koalas?’ (and) he said: ‘I know nothing about that, that’s all Rob Stokes’. This was the minister who, six weeks earlier, had been completely winding me up to go into the media attacking the Deputy Premier.”
Ms Cusack said Mr Kean had asked her what she wanted in exchange for her vote before Ms Berejiklian offered her a job.
“He said what was I offered in exchange for the vote and I said ‘nothing’ and he said: ‘Well, no wonder you won’t vote for it. What do you want?’. And I said: ‘You can’t do deals on koalas’ and he said: ‘Catherine, how else do decisions get made?’,” Ms Cusack told the Upper House.
“An hour later, I was back in Gladys’s office with Matt Kean and Rob Stokes, and she was offering me a job. I said ‘Unbelievable’ and she misunderstood and said ‘OK, I will put it in writing’.”
The revelations followed what Mr Kean described as a late night “Twitter rant” where Ms Cusack aired private text messages in which Ms Berejiklian pleaded with her for her support for the koala bill.
Mr Kean said her tweets were “absolutely untrue”.
Earlier on Wednesday, Premier Dominic Perrottet said he met with Ms Cusack to discuss “concerns” she had after Ms Cusack took to social media to claim the premier did not have time to speak to her.
Ms Cusack announced she would quit after the government’s handling of the flood crisis.
‘I NEED YOUR HELP’: MP REVEALS GLADYS’ KOALA TEXTS
Gladys Berejiklian unsuccessfully pleaded with one of her frontbench team to support new koala laws as a “personal favour” so as not to “undermine the government” in a series of texts.
The text messages, dramatically posted to social media by upper house MP Catherine Cusack last night, threaten to reignite the ‘koala wars’ which almost fractured the Coalition government in 2020.
Ms Cusack, who recently declared she will quit the Liberals and leave parliament, posted her private texts with the former Premier on Twitter on Tuesday night in anger after learning of a deal brokered between now Treasurer Matt Kean and then Deputy Premier John Barilaro on koala protection rules.
The text messages released by Ms Cusack purport to show Ms Berejiklian pleading with her frontbencher to support the government’s position.
“I need your help re Koala Sepp (state environmental planning policy),” one text attributed to Ms Berejiklian read.
“Pls [sic] stop sending things to the Opposition.”
The messages date back to November 2020, when Ms Cusack was a parliamentary secretary. She was preparing to vote against the government to send koala protection rules to an upper house committee – which she ultimately did, scuttling the koala policy in a win for the Nationals.
Text messages attributed to Ms Berejiklian show the lengths that the former Premier went to in order to get Ms Cusack on side.
“I ask you to reconsider for the sake of government unity,” one text attributed to Ms Berejiklian said.
“By voting against the bill you will destroy the koala sepp and undermine the government,” Ms Berejiklian said, according to Ms Cusack’s screenshots.
The then Premier said Ms Cusack voting against the government in parliament would kill koala protection rules and lead to the old policy being reinstated.
Ms Cusack ignored the pleas and voted with the opposition which led to koala rules being dumped. She was sacked as a parliamentary secretary shortly after, with Ms Berejiklian texting her about the demotion.
Ms Cusack said on Twitter that she was posting the messages “to prove I had no knowledge” of a deal between Mr Kean and Mr Barilaro to end the koala wars.
Ms Berejiklian was contacted for comment.
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