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Treasurer Dominic Perrottet backs down after Multicultural Minister Ray Williams refuses to exit seat

IN a closed-door meeting this morning, Premier Gladys Berejiklian has told her party “the buck always stops with me.” It comes after Dominic Perrottet copped a blow after being forced to walk away from his bid to contest his Cabinet colleague’s seat.

TREASURER Dominic Perrottet has been dealt a humiliating blow after being forced to walk away from his bid to contest his cabinet colleague’s seat after the infighting threatened to cripple the government.

In a slap down for Mr Perrottet — who was widely seen as the next Liberal leader — he was forced into the backdown when Premier Gladys Berejiklian could not convince Multicultural Minister Ray Williams to hand over his seat in a marathon late-night meeting at her North Shore home on Sunday.

During a close-door party room meeting today, Ms Berejiklian said that there were so many people who at very late notice did things to enable the matters of the past few days to be resolved.

She also said, “the buck always stops with me” and “the election is ours to lose” at the meeting.

Afterwards, Ms Berejiklian began a joint NSW party room meeting by apologising to the Nationals for the past four days and said they needed to draw a line in the sand.

Mr Williams and Mr Perrottet shook hands before also apologising to the team.

Upper House Liberal MP Peter Phelps said outside of parliament that Mr Perrottet’s attempt to steal the seat from Mr Williams was a “bad look”.

“I don’t understand why he didn’t just tap him on the shoulder six months ago and say mate why don’t we do a swap, one for one,” he said.

NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian and MP Ray Williams (left) cutting a cake at the Cabramatta Moon Festival on Sunday. Picture: Jonathan Ng
NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian and MP Ray Williams (left) cutting a cake at the Cabramatta Moon Festival on Sunday. Picture: Jonathan Ng

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“It’s not as if Hawkesbury is a seat which is on a critical margin.”

While Ms Berejiklian has copped criticism for not intervening sooner, Dr Phelps defended her, saying it was “not the Premier’s job to organise factional deals”.

“The three of them together make a fantastic team and I hope that they can stick together,” he said.

“In terms of what she’s actually doing, she’s far better than Baird and immeasurably better than O’Farrell.

“Gladys is still 100 per cent my leader of choice.”

After days of politically disastrous infighting — which has senior ministers and backbenchers furious — the Premier managed delicate conversations and convinced Mr Perrottet to reconsider.

Dr Phelps said he was expecting “peace, love and mungbeans” from this morning’s party room meeting.

“With a unified team working together towards a glorious victory in March 2019,” he said.

Upper House MP and leader of the Christian Democratic Party Australia Fred Nile said the Liberal Party still had his full support.

Natasha Maclaren Jones has been guaranteed her “at large spot” in the upper house.
Natasha Maclaren Jones has been guaranteed her “at large spot” in the upper house.
NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian. Picture: AAP
NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian. Picture: AAP

“I’m sure Gladys will sort the problems out and get the party back on track,” he said.

Deputy NSW Labor Leader Michael Daley said he was anticipating a “tense” party room meeting.

“The Canberra contagion has spread to Macquarie Street and Gladys Berejiklian has got herself in an awful mess,” he said.

“We’re seeing the full selfishness of the Liberal Party on display here — young factional warlords who want to tear the place down.

“They don’t care about good government, they care about their own ambition.”

Transport Minister Andrew Constance deflected questions about the chaos in Cabinet and instead talked up Ms Berejiklian’s achievements.

“Look at the Premier — I mean what an incredible Premier,” he said.

“We’ve got an $87 million dollar infrastructure project, she’s been Treasurer, she’s been Transport Minister and she’s delivering great outcomes for the people of this state.

“What I would say is that come March, this is going to be between Luke Foley and Gladys Berejiklian.”

Yesterday, multiple MPs across Liberal party factions told The Daily Telegraph Mr Perrottet had severely damaged his standing in the party room where he had previously been highly respected.

“He’ll never be leader now,” one senior government member said.

The deal struck via Ms Berejiklian, which was agreed to by all three factions, sees Damien Tudehope give up his seat of Epping for Mr Perrottet and move into the upper house.

Under the deal, centre right MLC Natasha Maclaren Jones has also been guaranteed her “at large spot” in the upper house.

The deal also saves Mr Williams even after he threatened to move a spill against Mr Perrottet for his deputy leader’s position. Several sources believe the deals struck will fuel ongoing factional warfare just six months out from the election. One minister last night described the infighting as “free fall”.

NSW Treasurer Dominic Perrottet Question Time at NSW Parliament earlier this month. Picture: AAP
NSW Treasurer Dominic Perrottet Question Time at NSW Parliament earlier this month. Picture: AAP

It can be revealed that Mr Perrottet made a series of apologetic phone calls to ministers and MPs over the course of the weekend.

Some said he was apologising for the drama sparked by his challenge for Mr Williams’ seat. But in addition, he was attempting to explain himself and explain that it was for family reasons that he wanted to represent an electorate closer to his home.

Mr Williams said last night he “credited the Premier­”. “I thank her for the strong role she’s played in resolving this matter,” he said.

“She’s showed remarkable leadership. Now we need to get back to work. It’s a lesson that we should never take our communities for granted.”

NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian and MP Ray Williams at the Cabramatta Moon Festival. Picture: Jonathan Ng
NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian and MP Ray Williams at the Cabramatta Moon Festival. Picture: Jonathan Ng

Several other ministers told The Daily Telegraph the final negotiations were a credit to the Premier.

It is understood that Mr Williams’ centre right faction could have mustered the preselection numbers at Castle Hill to defeat the Treasurer should the messy preselection battle have been allowed to continue.

Sources close to Mr Perrottet said he had made his desire to switch seats known well in advance of the issue exploding.

Supporters of Mr Perrottet were deeply disappointed the party had not handled the conflict in a better way.

Seasoned political strategists in government offices last night said they were stunned by the way the Liberals were “imploding” so close to the election.

NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian speaking at the Cabramatta Moon Festival on Sunday. Picture: Jonathan Ng
NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian speaking at the Cabramatta Moon Festival on Sunday. Picture: Jonathan Ng

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Original URL: https://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/nsw/treasurer-dominic-perrottet-backs-down-after-multicultural-minister-ray-williams-refuses-to-exit-seat/news-story/dd3922f56260482a9bb7240f550fc926