Dominic Perrottet’s controversial past comments revealed as he becomes new NSW premier

The new NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet is unapologetic in his views. Here are some of his controversial past comments.

NSW’s next premier Dominic Perrottet is a conservative who opposed laws to force priests to disclose child abuse arguing “the confessional seal is sacrosanct no matter what sins are confessed”.

The 39-year-old father of six, who will become the next premier after winning a party room vote, makes no apologies for his beliefs, which extend to warning supporters of abortion they are on the “wrong side of history”, opposing same-sex marriage and attacking the “pronoun police” who encourage the use of gender neutral language.

But it’s likely to provide a target-rich environment for his Labor opponents, who plan to attack the new premier with a “hit list” of controversial comments including his views on Donald Trump and climate change, which he has described as “a religion for the Left”.

He has previously warned Australia should stop “throwing money” at welfare because it is contributing to rising divorce rates and single parent families.

In 2017, he outlined his opposition to same-sex marriage on the grounds that “marriage is about every child’s fundamental right to grow up with their own mum and dad”.

Mr Perrottet also opposed the decriminalisation of abortion in NSW on the grounds that he could not support laws that stopped “the beating heart of an unborn child”.

He’s also a champion of tax reform, who has previously complained about Prime Minister Scott Morrison “shooting down” discussions about GST reform.

Who is Dominic Perrottet?

Dominic Perrottet was born in 1982. If he is elected as the state’s next premier he will be the youngest politician to ever serve in the role at the age of just 39.

He grew up in West Pennant Hills and attended the Roman Catholic school Redfield College in Dural, which is run by Opus Dei priests.

“I think having a Christian faith is part of who I am and inspires me to make a difference wherever I go,” Mr Perrottet said.

NSW Treasurer Dominic Perrottet will succeed Gladys Berejiklian as premier. Picture: AAP Image/Dean Lewins/POOL/via NCA NewsWire

Mr Perrottet entered Parliament a decade ago when he was still in his twenties. In his maiden speech he paid tribute to his own mother and his wife, Helen.

“I had the privilege of growing up in a large family. I am the third of 12 children. As you may imagine, my mother ran a very tight ship,’’ he said.

“But with so many of us around, she realised very quickly she could not get everything done by herself. I polished 12 pairs of shoes in summer. I packed 12 lunches in autumn. I changed 1200 nappies in winter and then changed them again in spring.”

Perrottet’s war on pronouns

A willingness to engage in what might be described as culture wars over welfare, gender and political correctness have been a feature of Mr Perrottet’s decade-long career in politics.

Last year, Mr Perrottet revealed he would quash an attempt by Treasury bureaucrats to lecture staff about the use of gender pronouns.

“I’ll be making sure people in the Treasury are free to call their spouse whatever they like,” he told Sky News.

“Wife, husband, boyfriend, girlfriend, honey, babe, whatever – as long as we’re focused where it should be.”

His public edict followed the decision of the NSW Treasury’s Economic Strategy Deputy Secretary Joann Wilkie sending an official message to staff about a need to “create a safe space” at work.

“And not assuming when you’re talking to a colleague that they are heterosexual/cis-gendered/endosex, so use ‘partner’ rather than ‘wife’ or ‘husband’ and use an introduction like ‘welcome folks’ rather than ‘hi guys’,’’ she said.

‘No matter what sins are confessed’

Mr Perrottet opposed laws to force Catholic priests to tell police if a priest confessed to sex abuse in the confessional.

Dominic Perrottet and his wife Helen. Picture: Damian Shaw

“Now I understand the motivation and the rationale for this legislation, as I’m sure everyone here does. As a Catholic I find a sexual abuse and subsequent cover-ups that have gone on in the church, a crushing betrayal, not only of the victims, but of believers too,’’ Mr Perrottet said.

“We all share in the responsibility to combat the plague of sexual abuse of children and minors and make sure it never happens again. At the same time though, we need to be clear about what this kind of law does, it compels at the threat of imprisonment, ministers of religion to violate their conscience, in a way that is so grave that will result in their summary expulsion from the church. That isn’t just a matter of preference. It’s a matter of deep theological conviction that the confessional seal is sacrosanct, for every priest in every penitent, no matter who, no matter what sins are confessed.”

The Great Divorce: Perrottet on welfare and family breakdown

The NSW Treasurer has previously blamed Australia’s welfare system for rising divorce rates and declining fertility.

In a speech to the Centre for Independent Studies (CIS), Dominic Perrottet quoted the US politician Daniel Moynihan’s view that “marriage was penalised and single parenthood subsidised” by the welfare system.

“Some have argued that social security replaces the role of children in old age by socialising the traditional duties of the family,” he said.

“As one commentator has asked, why have children at all when the state will take care of you in your old age?”

In his speech, Mr Perrottet referred to the US politician Daniel Moynihan’s famous report that was originally titled The Negro Family: The Case For National Action.

It was later renamed the Moynihan report after it was attacked both from the Left and the Right and sparked claims of racism.

A Democrat, Moynihan argued that not only racism was to blame for the plight of African-Americans but also welfare and family breakdown.

“In this new period the expectations of the Negro Americans will go beyond civil rights,’’ he wrote.

“Being Americans, they will now expect that in the near future equal opportunities for them as a group will produce roughly equal results, as compared with other groups. This is not going to happen. Nor will it happen for generations to come unless a new and special effort is made.

“Individually, Negro Americans reach the highest peaks of achievement. But collectively, in the spectrum of American ethnic and religious and regional groups, where some get plenty and some get none, where some send eighty per cent of their children to college and others pull them out of school at the 8th grade, Negroes are among the weakest.”

Dominic Perrottet. Picture: Jane Dempster/The Australian

‘I cannot in good conscience support a bill which stops the beating heart of an unborn child’

Two years ago, Mr Perrottet emerged as one of the most outspoken opponents of the decriminalisation of abortion.

“I understand people have different views and, while I acknowledge many of the reasons they have for supporting this bill, including deeply personal reasons, I cannot in good conscience support a bill which stops the beating heart of an unborn child,” Mr Perrottet said.

“While late-term abortions may be rare, that doesn’t necessarily make them right.”

In his speech to Parliament, he accepted that “not everyone is lucky enough to be in my circumstances.”

“Every day there are women out there who fall pregnant in difficult and sometimes impossible conditions of poverty, abuse, neglect and violence. I can understand why many of them in that situation would want to consider ending their pregnancies. But our first response as a community should be to help, not to harm, and to comfort, value and support both mother and child,’’ he said.

“The bill draws an arbitrary line in the sand at 22 weeks. At this stage the unborn child has had a heartbeat for months. Its fingerprints have formed, it has its own unique DNA, its hair starts growing and it has been yawning, stretching and moving. Thanks to this bill our law will now stand completely silent while the lives of unborn children up to five months are ended on demand.”

Climate change and Donald Trump

Over the weekend, his critics enthusiastically shared a 2016 post on his official Facebook account where he praised Donald Trump’s election as US President, describing it as “a victory for people who have been taken for granted by the elites”.

“If you stand for free speech, you are not a bigot,’’ he said.

“If you question man-made climate change, you are not a sceptic.

“If you support stronger borders, you are not a racist.

“If you want a plebiscite on same sex marriage, you are not a homophobe.

“If you love your country, you are not an extremist.

“These are mainstream values that people should be free to articulate without fear of ridicule or persecution by the Left.”

Originally published as Dominic Perrottet’s controversial past comments revealed as he becomes new NSW premier