Wagga wipe-out was a warning of voter anger

THERE are many reasons the Liberals lost the latest by-election, but sending jobs offshore is one thing voters don’t appreciate from their government, writes Miranda Devine.

IT’S only a tiny pointer to what went wrong for the Berejiklian government at the Wagga Wagga by-election on Saturday, but it is the price of hubris.

Two employees of the Roads and Maritime Services’ IT department have family in Wagga who vowed that, for the first time, they would not vote Liberal at the by-election.

Their anger with the government stems from the fact that the RMS has required companies tendering for a $100 million IT contract to give at least one third of the jobs to cut-price workers overseas.

The government has tried to deny it but this deliberate policy to send Australian IT jobs to India to save money is contained in a confidential Request for Proposal issued by the RMS on February 7, 2018 which stipulates that 20 per cent of jobs come from “offshore” in the first year, 30 per cent in the second year and an “ongoing approach to increase offshore efforts” in subsequent years.

The Liberal party lost a seat they have held for 60 years, delivering a tough lesson for NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian. (Pic: Justin Lloyd)

Sending jobs overseas is not something taxpayers appreciate from their government.

So no wonder the families of those RMS workers whose jobs are under threat are angry.

They represent just a handful of votes, but when the Liberal party loses a conservative seat they’ve held since 1967 with a 28 per cent swing, six months before the state election, it’s time for widespread soul searching.

But NSW Nationals leader John Barilaro had some cheek telling his colleagues the solution is to “take off the $700 suits”, put on some jeans and “get real” with voters. Where was he during the election campaign? Nowhere to be seen.

Wagga was not a great result for federal Nationals leader Michael McCormack either, right there in his hometown. On Saturday he was saying he was getting a “good vibe from the voters here on the ground.”

But at least he turned up.

There are lots of reason the Liberals lost Wagga — the turmoil in Canberra played a significant role, despite the denials of coup plotters.

Voter disgust is one of the many transaction costs of regicide, as can be seen from the federal Coalition’s five-point plunge in Newspoll’s two-party preferred percentage, to 44-56 behind Labor.

The baggage of former member Daryl Maguire and his evidence at ICAC, and an out of town candidate, was impossible, but it was a product of a government that has lost discipline and focus on what counts.

Policies such as the light rail fiasco and the big spend on Sydney stadiums are manna from heaven to Labor leader Luke Foley.

Nanny state over-regulation, from restrictions on fishing to crippling road tolls and traffic fines, enrage the average apolitical citizen.

But for all its faults, this is the best NSW government we’ve had in more than a quarter of a century, and it would be madness to cut off our noses to spite our face.