Gladys Berejiklian needs to make big reforms now COVID is under control

At her first cabinet meeting of the year, Gladys Berejiklian issued a warning to her ministerial colleagues. Leaking from cabinet is an offence. She wasn’t playing, writes Anna Caldwell.

At her first cabinet meeting of the year, Gladys Berejiklian issued a warning to her ministerial colleagues. Leaking from cabinet is an offence, they were reminded.

She wasn’t playing. If the Premier suspected leaks, she told her colleagues she reserved the right to launch a full investigation which could include checking their telephone activity.

Berejiklian has warned about leaks before, but she reiterated to her colleagues that this time she was serious — and the phone threat in particular struck ­cabinet members as a bridge ­beyond.

"She gave them a warning - 'If you leak out of this cabinet, I reserve the right to investigate you, it could include going through your phone conversations.' Now, what do you know? That leaked," says @annacaldwell #9Today pic.twitter.com/Q83VOEEDPp

— The Today Show (@TheTodayShow) February 11, 2021

Berejiklian already banned phones from cabinet once she became Premier, with ministers silly enough to bring a phone asked to put them in little ­drawers or lockers outside the cabinet room.

Of course, cabinet leaks are as old as parliaments.

Canberra folklore has it that Tony Abbott’s then-chief of staff Peta Credlin once busted a Minister leaking in real time from the cabinet room.

Attendees had left their phones outside, lined up on an attendant’s desk. Walking past, Credlin noticed one flashing like a Christmas tree, ­impossible to miss, lit up with the name of a calling journalist.

Poker machine reforms would be a bold and controversial move.

The ever-wise Credlin asked the ­attendant if that particular Minister who owned the flashing phone had made a call when they recently left the cabinet room.

“No but they asked to take their phone to the bathroom,” came the reply.

Busted.

No leader likes an (unauthorised) leaker.

Reforms to phase out stamp duty are also on the cards. Picture: Jake Nowakowski

But firing such a heavy-handed warning shot, as Berejiklian did, does not signal much in the way of trust in her team. It also reveals how much she cares about owning the media agenda.

And so begins the 2021 parliamentary year.

The government is riding high on its best-in-class COVID response. ­Berejiklian is strong in internal polling, and MPs say when they are on the road meeting voters, the love for the Premier is real and almost floors them.

I’ve lost track of the number of MPs who tell me that wherever they go, voters ask “and how is Gladys?”

It’s the type of personal popularity politicians dream of.

But amid all of this, it is reasonable to question where the government is headed.

On the return to parliament this week, the government’s legislative agenda is minimal.

The risk here is that they spend the year with the centrepiece of government being the managing of a COVID crisis which, quite frankly, doesn’t exist in NSW anymore.

Already, if you look back on 2020 and strip away the government’s standout COVID performance, you are left with very little but a long list of what would otherwise be career-­limiting stuff-ups.

Gladys Berejiklian’s party will face election uncertainty unless it moves on from the COVID response and returns to its reformist agenda. Art: Terry Pontikos

If the government tries to ride to the next election on the back of COVID and nothing else it would be not only a mistake, but a field of missed opportunities.

Now is the time to be thinking about big reform agendas.

Put simply, as one Liberal Minister explained to me, when the 2023 election rolls around, the Government must own the future, not just the past.

This begs the question: other than keeping us safe from COVID, when the pandemic passes, what will this government stand for?

Internal polling has indicated that the concept of “keeping people safe” resonates better now than ever ­before, but it will need to be broadened in a post pandemic world.

There are of course a number of major fights the government has looming — the biggest on the books being pokies reform and stamp duty reform.

Customer Services Minister Victor Dominello has signed himself up for what could be one of the biggest brawls of the term.

Dominello wants to transition poker machine players to registered pre-loaded cashless gaming cards in a bid to stamp out money laundering and to minimise harm.

His push received a massive boost in this week’s Bergin Report which gave a nod to the idea as a means to combat criminal activity. But the bigger fight Dominello will face is in his own party room.

NSW Minister for Customer Service Victor Dominello. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Joel Carrett

The Minister will effectively have to go to war with pubs and clubs — an influential industry if there ever was one, with deep pockets and powerful and effective lobbyists.

The Nationals, who see pubs and clubs as the heart and soul of many small town communities, won’t abide the changes, paving the way for ­another city versus country debate every bit as bruising as Koala-gate. How much can one cabinet bear, ­indeed?

Already, some opponents have been trying to smear Dominello by putting around a rumour that the minister’s father was a gambling ­addict. They say this compromises the Minister. When I asked Dominello about this, he told me it was a complete fabrication.

This is a fight that will get vicious.

The second big reform on the agenda is stamp duty, with Dominic Perrottet’s bold plan to phase it out.

NSW Treasurer Dominic Perrottet. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Joel Carrett

Perrottet’s pitch is the reforms will see more people able to afford a home, but he too faces internal opposition and risks a tooth and nail ­“retiree-tax”-style fight from Labor.

The government must choose wisely what it spends its COVID-capital on, but the key is it must not simply choose something but rather unequivocally own it.

Unfortunately, the first week back at parliament was not only dominated by a lack of much legislation, but also MPs running around trying to do deals to determine who would replace outgoing upper house President John Ajaka.

Matt Kean’s policy adviser Peter Poulos looks likely to get the factional nod, but it’s not exactly the kind of parliamentary business voters have much interest in.

Here’s a leak from the real world to send back to NSW cabinet — the truth is, we are all hoping there’s something more interesting than threats of leak investigations or ­factional barneys that are worthy of leaking from cabinet in 2021.