The real reason Gladys was victorious

The premier’s historic win was not down to her opponent’s flaws, it’s proof that voters will reward her style of leadership. Scott Morrison’s federal government should be paying close attention, writes Miranda Devine.

After Premier Gladys Berejiklian’s victory on Saturday, the media consensus was that Labor leader Michael Daley lost the election single-handedly because he was hopeless with numbers and was seen in a racist video.

That’s an insult to Berejiklian, who won the election on merit, quite deliberately forcing errors from her opponent.

And it’s not really fair to Daley, either, who had all of four months to prepare and had to carry his entire party to exhaustion.

Now he’s been forced out altogether, announcing today that he won’t stand for the leadership again, after all.

NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian's win has given her a power boost. Artwork: Terry Pontikos

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Loading all the blame on Daley shows Labor has not learned the right lesson from Saturday.

But from Berejiklian’s point of view, she says she’s used to being “underestimated” and it doesn’t faze her. In fact, she quite likes it.

Good for her. That’s the essence of humility, which is the fuel of leadership.

Her victory was no accident, and it comes at a pivotal point in our history, when trust in institutions is at rock bottom and politicians and the media increasingly are estranged from the people they serve.

NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian after her victory at the state election, which she won on merit. Picture: AAP/Mick Tsikas

It is proof that voters will reward competence and stability above flim flam, and it provides a salutary lesson for the Morrison government, if only they will stop fighting each other.

“People made a judgment about competence,” former Prime Minister John Howard said at the Liberal election party at the Sofitel-Wentworth hotel in the city on Saturday night where he has enjoyed many a victory.

“In the end, they want people in charge who are competent.”

Thank goodness for that. The NSW election shows that voters aren’t stupid, they may game the polls to send a message and they usually get it right.

Berejiklian did not become the first Liberal leader in almost half a century to win a third term for the Coalition in NSW because Michael Daley had a bad week.

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She didn’t become the first woman to be elected Premier of NSW because of the so-called racist video in which Daley was caught saying “our kids” are losing jobs to “young people from typically Asia with PhDs.”

No, all those excuses from Labor are only a part of the story.

Berejiklian won in her own right because she had eight years of achievement to back her up and she unwaveringly stuck to her plan, despite the naysayers who mistakenly bewailed her political skills.

She earned her success in her own way, and she never played the gender card. It was only in her victory speech that she said she was proud that “someone with a long surname, and a woman, can be Premier in NSW”.

Michael Daley has announced he will not contest Labor leadership after losing the NSW election. Picture: Jonathan Ng

She was the real deal in an industry full of phonies.

In suburban Sydney the government actually managed to win a swing towards them, which is extraordinary for a third term.

In the bush, of course, it was a different story, but that’s an existential problem for the National Party, which has lost its soul. For that matter, the Greens lost one per cent of their vote in a drought-time election that nearly everyone claimed was about climate change.

MORE FROM MIRANDA DEVINE: Gladys has been badly let down by the National Party

In fact, a Nine Galaxy exit poll showed voters cared most about health, education, road congestion and the economy. Daley’s favourite topic, stadiums, ranked last of eight issues and climate change didn’t even rate a mention.

Berejiklian’s campaign wasn’t flashy and the slogan “Let’s Get it Done NSW” raised eyebrows, but it worked by relentlessly pummelling Daley while doggedly showcasing the government’s economic record.

Treasurer Dominic Perrottet was the most potent campaign weapon, out every day criticising Daley as not ready to govern, demanding policy costings and neutralising his attack on the price of two new stadiums, which the Treasurer pointed out comprised just 2 per cent of the government’s $90 billion infrastructure spend.

Perrottet’s guerrilla flair included yum cha in Hurstville’s Chinatown last week in the heart of Labor’s multicultural seat of Kogarah with Chinese-Australian Liberal candidate Scott Yung to highlight Daley’s “racist” video.

New South Wales Treasurer Dominic Perrottet played a pivotal role in the election campaign. Picture: AAP/Dean Lewins

Labor suffered a five per cent swing there on Saturday.

Perrottet said, “I was talking about jobs and unemployment — which we had at 3.9 per cent, the lowest in recorded history — a strong surplus and record investment in infrastructure. At the end of the day that all shone through.”

He says the Berejiklian victory is a “blueprint for the federal government to run on your economic record.”

It has breathed life back into the federal Liberal party, and given them a glimmer of hope that perhaps all is not lost.

“If you provide stable government the people back you in,” a buoyant Scott Morrison told Liberal donors on Saturday night in a private room at Berejiklian’s party.

One school of thought is that he can take the momentum of NSW and turn it into victory in May.

The other school of thought is that the voters kept their baseball bats in wait for the feds, that they voted Liberal at the state level only to counterbalance the Shorten Labor government they intend to vote for come May.

On the other hand, that theory could work in reverse in Victoria, where voters last year may have sated their anger against Canberra with a brutal demolition of state Liberals in the wake of the Turnbull coup.

Whatever is in voter’s minds, next week’s federal budget is a chance to win them over. The Berejiklian blueprint for Morrison is to showcase his government’s economic competence while forcing errors from Bill Shorten.

@mirandadevine