Dominic Perrottet’s staff scolded, ministers warned over cabinet leaks

NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet has delivered a stunning ultimatum to his cabinet, warning that the next person to leak internal discussions will not be a minister after March. ‘ ‘’

Premier Dominic Perrottet has delivered a stunning ultimatum to his cabinet — warning that the next person to leak internal discussions will not be a minister if the government is re-elected in March.

Mr Perrottet’s orders come as allegations of sexism threaten to blow apart his government, with two senior ministers blasting the party for failing to preselect women.

The Telegraph confirmed with multiple sources the Premier told his team to stop “talking about themselves” at a special cabinet meeting on Monday morning, with Deputy Premier Paul Toole backing the demand.

The Premier did not specifically reference allegations revealed in The Daily Telegraph that senior Liberal staffer Tanya Raffoul was deterred from putting up her hand for preselection by party members who told her to “settle down and have children”, however MPs were left with the impression they were to focus on core government business.

The same day Mr Perrottet announced he would be taking leave until Christmas Eve but returning on Wednesday to pass urgent energy legislation.

NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet has scolded his cabinet ministers over leaks to the media. Picture: NCA Newswire / Gaye Gerard

David Elliott's chief of staff Tanya Raffoul, who says she was deterred from running for preselection after sexist comments from party members. Picture: Instagram

Hours after his stern warning, Treasurer Matt Kean resisted questions about the explosive allegations, saying “enough has been written about this topic” and his views on his party‘s gender problems have been “clear” and “consistent”.

But after attempting to resist relentless questions, he added that Ms Raffoul’s experience – which included being told she was “too assertive” — was “disgraceful” and should not be acceptable.

“Those comments, if they were said, are absolutely disgraceful,” he said.

“They should have no place in the Liberal Party or any other organisation for that matter.

“They should be repudiated in the strongest terms.”

Mr Kean made the comments standing alongside young and childless Ryde candidate Jordan Lane.

Treasurer Matt Kean (right) with Liberal candidate for Ryde Jordan Lane as a press conference on Monday.

When asked if he was ever told to abandon his ambitions to settle down and have his children, Mr Lane said “Of course not.”

Ms Raffoul’s boss Transport Minister David Elliott – who had previously accused branch members of putting “testosterone before talent” in preselection contests – said any “unconscious bias” towards women needed to be weeded out of the party.

“The problem is that we’ve got to make sure it’s very, very clear to women that they have a serious role in the political process … We’ve got to make sure that we’re fair and we take away any unconscious bias that might be there.”

Transport Minister David Elliott publicly called out his party for putting “testosterone before talent”. Picture: Richard Dobson

Sports Minister Alister Henskens acknowledged that the party needed more women but said the matter had to be sorted out internally.

“We need more women in parliament, there’s no doubt about that … But these are at the end of the day matters for the internal processes of our parties. And I think we need to leave it there. We need to constructively work out solutions to get more women in Parliament,” Mr Henskens said.

The cautious responses from Mr Perrottet’s ministers come on the heel of Mr Elliott breaking ranks to claim the Liberal Party had thrown women “under the bus” in five key seats for men who would not inspire him “to get out of bed in the morning”.

The latest among them was Hills Shire Councillor Reena Jethi who lost preselection to a man on Saturday.

Mr Elliott’s feminist fight followed Mr Kean criticising the party for selecting Matt Cross in Davidson over Roads Minister Natalie Ward.

“I am devastated about the results, I mean, I thought that a smart, talented senior female Minister would trump a former junior staffer every day of the week,” he said at the time.

“It’s clear that the branch membership is not reflecting the community. The community sent a very strong message not only to the Liberal Party but to all political parties that they want to see more diversity.”

A spokesman for Mr Perrottet declined to comment on cabinet confidential information.