Treasurer has man-to-man chat with son about fifth baby sister
A new baby is always something to be cherished, but a gender reveal party gave Dominic Perrottet and wife Helen something to think about, with the Treasurer a tad concerned about how only son Wills would react to news of a fifth sister.
NSW
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When Treasurer Dominic Perrottet and his wife Helen held a “gender reveal” party for their new baby, the then father-of-five prepared to have a “man-to-man” chat with his only son Wills.
The cake had revealed the new addition to the family would be another girl, leaving Dom and Wills the only males in the family of eight.
Wills had famously cried after the birth of his fourth sister Harriet.
“It’s just you and me now,” Dom told his son as Wills was made aware there would be another girl joining the family.
However, no consoling was necessary on this occasion, with Wills overjoyed at having another sister, Mr Perrottet said.
The couple welcomed baby Beatrice Rose Clare Perrottet on September 2 at Royal North Shore Hospital.
The Sauce sends its congratulations.
SENATORIAL SHOWDOWN
Dumped Liberal minister Sarah Henderson will today face an uphill battle to return to Canberra, with backers fearing she hasn’t locked in enough votes to win a Senate spot.
Ms Henderson, who lost her lower-house seat in the May election, enters the Senate race as a frontrunner but faces serious competition from Greg Mirabella in the vote, which is being viewed as a test of factional powers.
Ahead of the ballot, Henderson’s backers feared she wouldn’t secure enough primary votes to win in the first round of voting, making it difficult to predict a winner once other candidates are eliminated. Liberal sources told The Snitch Henderson was expecting between 150 and 200 primary votes out of a possible 470 in round one.
“Sarah doesn’t have enough primary votes and, if that’s the case, she will struggle to win,” one Liberal MP warned.
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In an eleventh-hour bid to secure her return, many of Ms Henderson’s former lower-house colleagues hit the phones to lobby delegates for their support late last week.
She has the backing of Prime Minister Scott Morrison and Treasurer Josh Frydenberg, but has been targeted by religious conservatives within the Victorian branch of the Liberal Party over her support for same-sex marriage and abortion reforms.
Several Liberal MPs were predicting Mr Mirabella — a former army officer and the husband of divisive former Liberal frontbencher Sophie Mirabella — could out-poll Ms Henderson in the first round of voting.
The successful candidate will be forced to rely on preference flows to win with no candidate expected to win outright.
PARLY BAN
When Campbelltown MP Greg Warren was banned from parliament recently for three weeks by new speaker Jonathan O’Dea, it was the first time in 15 years such a punishment had been delivered.
Warren was busy calling Deputy Premier John Barilaro a liar on the floor of the house — and claims he didn’t hear the speaker’s three warnings before he was punted for grossly disorderly behaviour. The speaker quickly sent the press gallery a statement crowing about his “stand”.
Perhaps he shouldn’t have.
Both government and opposition MPs have told The Sauce the novice speaker didn’t follow the correct procedure, and the opposition has written to him about the “invalid” and “purported” suspension. The speaker is standing his ground — claiming the suspension stands.
PERSISTENCE PAYS
When former Penthouse Pet Robyn Preston won the Liberal seat of Hawkesbury this year, few were aware just how hard she had tried to become an MP.
That was until the NSW Liberal State Council meeting yesterday, when Premier Gladys Berejiklian revealed how the former Hills Shire councillor had run for preselection no less than 18 times.
Berejiklian had been publicly thanking candidates who had participated in the March state election victory, when she turned to Robyn.
“If anybody wants to learn about resilience, they should talk to the new member for Hawkesbury, Robyn Preston,” she said. “Robyn, how many times have you run for preselection? Robyn Preston has run for preselection 18 times and now she’s a member for Hawkesbury.” Too bad if she had wanted to keep that fact to herself.
DOM’S DIARY
The latest ministerial diary disclosures reveal Treasurer Dominic Perrottet meeting with former state Labor treasurer Michael Egan in May.
Egan, who held the role for a decade up until 2005, was famous for portraying Queensland as an overstuffed cane toad in an advertising campaign to highlight how NSW was being ripped off in the GST carve-up.
The Sauce doesn’t know exactly what they talked about but we do know the pair discussed the economy.
Perrottet, who has also met with former federal treasurers Peter Costello and Paul Keating, said he valued his predecessor’s contribution to public life.
“It’s always worthwhile to learn from those who have gone before you,” he told The Sauce.
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