Berejiklian Government has days to turn momentum back in its favour or face a huge swing
Make no mistake, a swing away from this government is on andGladys Berejiklian has just four days left to turn momentum back in her favour if she is to save this election, writes State Political Editor Anna Caldwell.
Gladys Berejiklian has just four days left to turn momentum back in her favour if she is to save this election.
Make no mistake, a swing away from this government is on. The question is just how much Berejiklian and her team can insulate against it.
Penrith and Goulburn are both internally seen as battleground seats, but still the kind of seats the government has been quietly confident of holding. Results show just how precarious things might be.
And the bigger picture becomes clearer when you take together the results of the six seat-by-seat polls The Daily Telegraph has commissioned in the past three weeks.
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All of them show the tide is turning on this government, with swings ranging from 0.4 per cent in the state’s most marginal seat of East Hills to a whopping 11.9 per cent in the rural battleground of Barwon.
Statewide polls to date have the result neck and neck.
Taken together, this information suggests it is not a stretch for Berejiklian to lose the six seats that would put her in a minority government. It’s also not such a stretch to contemplate Berejiklian’s worst case scenario — that the losses go further and Michael Daley takes control.
With an economy that’s flying and unemployment at record lows, this government should not be in the fight to the death that it faces in coming days. Perhaps it’s because the infrastructure premier hasn’t been able to cut a single ribbon on one of her major projects — a privilege that will ultimately be enjoyed by Daley should he win on Saturday.
State Liberal HQ believes firmly that the federal Liberal brand is largely at fault for the damage and the pain that could be inflicted at the polls.
A similar story was told when Berejiklian was dealt a stinging defeat in the Wagga Wagga by-election last year.
The federal impact likely explains some of the damage, but it is foolish to think it explains all of it. There can be no doubt that Daley moved momentum in his favour with a repeated, blunt attack on the government’s commitment to invest in stadiums infrastructure in Sydney.
Monday’s poll shows this attack has resonated in Sydney seats such as Penrith as much as it has in regional seats including Goulburn.
The government has roundly failed to counter Daley’s attack, despite having the policy ammunition to do so.
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