NSW Treasurer’s younger brother rebels by opposing mandatory coronavirus vaccination
NSW Treasurer Dominic Perrottet’s younger brother has rebelled against a policy on worker vaccinations, co-signing a Young Libs push to oppose it.
The NSW Treasurer’s younger brother has rebelled against his sibling by co-signing a Young Liberal motion to oppose the state government’s mandatory vaccination policy for hotspot workers.
Jean Claude Perrottet, 24, seconded a motion at the youth wing’s Thursday meeting to oppose “calls for the introduction of mandatory or coerced vaccination”.
It was a rebuke of the position backed by his older brother and state Treasurer Dominic Perrottet to require that tradies from Sydney coronavirus hotspots get vaccinated before returning to work.
A youth wing source said the younger Perrottet, the secretary of the NSW Young Liberals, advocated strongly for the motion, which also included calls to oppose so-called “vaccine passports”.
It comes after the NSW government last weekend said construction workers from Sydney’s hotspot areas would be allowed to return to worksites “if they meet vaccination conditions.”
Those workers must provide proof they have received either two doses of a Covid-19 vaccine, one dose at least three weeks before attending work, or one dose and a negative virus test less than 72 hours old.
“Construction has helped maintain our strong economy throughout the Covid-19 outbreak, but many of our projects and workers are located within the eight affected local government areas,” the Treasurer said last weekend.
“For the industry to remain viable, we need to restart those projects and get construction workers where they are most needed. But we also need to minimise the risk of Covid-19 transmission to keep our communities safe, and these measures will help us achieve that balance.”
The issue has become a flashpoint for some other conservative Liberals, including Mulgoa MP Tanya Davies who sent an email to all her fellow coalition MPs saying the government had “failed in their jobs as leaders”.
Ms Davies told the Liberal Party room earlier in the week she would introduce a bill to ban companies from mandating their employees to get jabbed, but received almost no support and was blasted by the Deputy Premier for taking a position that was “dangerous, irresponsible and threatens lives”.
Ms Davies applauded the Young Liberals for approving the motion, which passed 123 against 58.
“It's great to see the younger Liberals fighting for this,” she said.
“They could teach some of the Liberal MPs a thing or two.”
A Young Liberal source said many in the youth wing felt the party’s MPs are “stuck in ivory towers” and don’t know what’s “happening on the ground”.
“Young Libs are crying out for the government to reconsider the policy,” the person said.
“It goes against the Liberal Party mantra of individual freedom.”
However another Young Liberal source said the group “wasn’t anti-vaccination” and had passed another motion that encouraged the members to get jabbed.
Jean Claude Perrottet declined to comment.
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