Dominic Perrottet backflips on Eraring power station stance
Dominic Perrottet has done a 180 on his approach to coal just two days out from the tightly contested state election.
State Election
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Dominic Perrottet has back flipped on his approach to coal just two days out from the tightly contested state election.
Two weeks ago Energy Minister Matt Kean claimed the Liberals were not ruling out Eraring power station in their future energy road map.
However Mr Perrottet slapped his treasurer down, stating “we have our energy road map. (Intervening in Eraring is) not part of our plans,” and insisted that he and the Energy Minister were on the same page about the matter.
But this morning on 2GB, Perrottet flipped his stance when pushed by Ben Fordham on why he said Eraring wasn’t part of the Liberals’ energy road map.
“I haven’t said that at all, no I did not,” Mr Perrottet told 2GB’s Ben Fordham on Thursday.
“I said our plan at the moment is to invest our in $32-billion road map and I’m completely focused on getting that Narrabri gas pipe up.
“I’ve always been open to making sure we have reliable and affordable energy.
“Yes, it’s part of our plan.”
The development comes after Mr Perrottet boldly claimed the Liberals are in a strong position to win the seat of Kogarah, which has been held by Labor for 70 years.
NSW Labor may find themselves in a bizarre position if Chris Minns, who has held Kogarah since 2015, loses his seat but wins the state election.
“Kogarah we can take,” Mr Perrottet told 2GB’s Ben Fordham on Thursday.
“There are a lot of seats and we aren’t taking any vote for granted.
“Craig Chung is a great candidate and we believe we have a great story to tell in Western Sydney.”
Voters in the knife-edge electorate are heading to the polls on Saturday with cost of living as their number one concern.
“I work very hard but I don’t make much profit, the price of buying flowers is so expensive now and I can’t shift my prices too much because I’ll lose loyal customers,” Vicky Wu, manager of Sun’s Flor St Flower and Gift said.
“The government should try and help the community, I try my best to support locals, they should too.”
Minns will take on fellow candidates Craig Chung (Liberal), Tracy Yuen (Greens) and Troy Stolz (Independent), with a small amount of votes likely to decide the winner.
Diman Co Jewellers co-owner Suzanne Heszberger said the region’s schools don’t compare to ones in the west.
“We don’t have many speciality schools so we’re a minority against the west,” she said.
“The rent is expensive but we’re keeping afloat.”
Kim Mguygn from Kogarah Quality Meat wants stricter working-from-home policies to increase foot traffic around her butcher amid the cost of living crisis.
“I don’t know why the government still lets people work from home, because we really depend on foot traffic,” Ms Mguygn said.
“That’s changed the dynamic of our company and the prices of everything going up makes it hard to keep afloat.”
“A small business like mine manages all the bills that seem to keep going up, and the people are not there, so it’s hard.”
However, the small business owner will be voting for Chris Minns after he helped her in a moment of crisis.
“A few years ago there was an incident where the police tried to arrest somebody and they actually broke one of the glass displays,” she said.
“The police didn’t want to do anything about it but Minns came across it and fixed it all up for me. He really helped me.
“He’s 100% getting my vote, he listens to all of the people around here.”
Kogarah business owner Lena Cimini runs Cimini’s Pasticceria, and while she hasn’t decided who’ll get her votes, she believes the government could be doing more to help the hospitality industry.
“Parking is our big issue here but government relief in tax and bill relief would go a long way for our industry,” she said.
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