At first blush, Gladys Berejiklian is likely to feel encouraged by the latest Newspoll scorecard grading her leadership — voters appear satisfied and impressed with her performance throughout the pandemic.
Less flatteringly, she ranks second last on both of these metrics compared to her interstate counterparts, her results languishing fathoms beneath the juggernaut success they have recorded.
But on her home turf, Ms Berejiklian is winning, and she knows it. Just last week she gave a rousing party room pep-talk, telling fellow Liberal and Nationals MPs on a Zoom call that “trust in government has never been so high” and this would only change “once they (the public) get jack of the restrictions”.
Such candour is rare for a premier who normally eschews the straight, uncomplicated answer for the banal platitudes and pre-canned responses that have all the zest of an old car seat.
What this crisis has revealed is that Ms Berejiklian is both shrewd and rhino-skinned, seemingly impervious to the flea bites of the NSW opposition.
But she has not been a swift or nimble leader.
She muddled the messaging on school shutdowns. She had to be heavily cajoled into green-lighting the social restrictions that saved the state from catastrophe, agreeing to do so only after being lobbied by her Treasurer and others in cabinet.
Worst of all, she remained stubbornly flat-footed on the Ruby Princess, waiting three weeks before ordering a bonafide special commission of inquiry into the debacle. Until then, she argued — absurdly — that NSW Health, then NSW Police, could undertake their own in-house examinations of the matter.
There have been other missteps and distractions (the resignation of Don Harwin, to name a big one) that have caused agitation among the backbench. Since the start of the crisis knives have been quietly sharpening — but only quietly. Expect a reshuffle of her ministry closer to October. Until then, it is unlikely there will be any sudden movements.
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