John Barilaro: Honest voice lost amid the threats and histrionics

John Barilaro emerges after abandoning his rebellion. Picture: John Feder

Don’t chalk this up to another Barilaro squib. What happened on Friday was not the usual blast of heat from the Deputy Premier.

It’s much worse this time, a poorly calculated political tantrum that’s exposed the naked, unbridled acrimony between Liberals and Nationals within the cabinet room.

Come Tuesday, Barilaro will have to sit across from Police Minister David Elliott, who on Friday called on him to resign over his “act of political bastardry”. Others in the room want him gone as well.

It is extremely unlikely that Elliott uttered those remarks without an approving nod from the Premier herself, or at least one of her senior staffers.

Clearly there is a move on to see the back of him.

Perhaps most confusing of all is gauging what the sum total of the threats and histrionics actually achieved. Had Barilaro’s stunt led to even the slightest compromise with the Premier, or a modicum of political capital, then, sure, perhaps we could shrug our shoulders and blame this spectacle on the vagaries of politics and the Vegas buffet of megalomaniacs who occupy parliaments across the land.

But there was no compromise, no gaining of any capital. Instead we were given the undignified sight of the Deputy Premier, banging tables and raging up and down Martin Place over an obscure koala policy, and a defiant Premier, restraining herself behind her desk, turning 11 shades of purple by the second, and threatening to wear his skin if he didn’t fall into line.

The fact that anyone with a pair of binoculars could have seen where this showdown was heading should suggest Barilaro is not the brilliant tactician he would have had us believe. He was never going to sacrifice the ministries of seven Nationals MPs to make a point about koalas.

The shame of it all is that Gladys Berejiklian has benefited greatly from the counsel of her deputy.

Lazy observers give the Premier great credit for the state’s pandemic response and low number of COVID-19 cases, not realising these have almost nothing to do with her judgment or leadership. Health officials prevent NSW from looking like Victoria, not the Premier.

And yet the critical decisions she has made, which have benefited the community, have been almost entirely driven by Barilaro and others in the Liberal Party. Should his position become untenable, the state will be losing one of the few honest voices in cabinet.