Mike Baird: Highs and Lows as NSW Premier
Mike Baird won voters over with his no-nonsense manner but a slew of divisive decisions would slash his support base.
Less than two years ago, Mike Baird was the most popular political leader in the country, winning over voters with a straight-talking, no-nonsense manner even as he forged ahead with an agenda of big infrastructure spending and aggressive privatisation.
But what a year a difference can make. By September 2016, a slew of deeply divisive decisions on greyhounds, bars and a shark management system had shaved more than 49 points of his approval rating to just 39 per cent, and overshadowed many of his Cabinet’s achievements, including returning NSW to a cash positive position for the first time in history.
April 2014: Mike Baird elected unopposed as 44th Premier of NSW, trumping rivals Pru Goward and right faction candidate Anthony Roberts, as Barry O’Farrell steps down over links to an identity at the centre of an ICAC corruption probe.
September 2014: Resistance to NSW lockout laws build as a City of Sydney report reveals that foot traffic through Kings Cross and other inner city areas is down 84 per cent on 2012 levels.
“The business community is collapsing,” said Kings Cross Liquor Accord chief Doug Grand tells media.
December 2014: Lone gunman Man Monis takes 10 civilians hostage in Sydney’s Lindt Café. Baird addresses the media throughout the standoff, reassuring the public they are being tested and the state is strong to withstand the challenge.
Newspoll approval rating soars to 60 per cent, the highest during his time as Premier.
March, 2015: Baird leads Coalition to a second term on a comfortable, but smaller majority, with the Labor Party taking 14 seats off the Coalition in a campaign dominated by his proposed $16bn sell-off of NSW’s “poles and wires” Ausgrid electricity network infrastructure.
February 2016: Prominent entrepreneur Matt Barrie writes a 70-page response slamming NSW’s lockout laws as a “moralistic crusade” that has turned the city into “an international joke.” The piece is read 200,000 times in 24-hours and becomes the LinkedIn’s most read article worldwide.
April 16, 2015: Research reveals Baird’s deeply unpopular lockout laws have been a success, with assault rates in Sydney’s CBD down 40 per cent in the year they have been in place, even as there is no evidence of any drop in alcohol consumption.
June 30, 2016: NSW ends the financial year in a cash positive position for the first time in the state’s history, and has the lowest net debt of any mainland state in the country.
July 6, 2016: Mike Baird announces an unprecedented ban on greyhound racing throughout NSW following the publication of a special commission into the industry, that found up to 68,000 dogs bred to race had been killed over the past 12 years because they were unfit to race or too slow.
September 2016: Newspoll approving rating slips to 39 per cent, reflecting a fall of 49 points in less than 10 months and the biggest fall in net satisfaction of any mainland state premier in the history of the polling provider.
October 3, 2016: NewsCorp reveals that a public servant charged with heading the greyhound industry transition package attempted to resign from the post over reservations about the ban, but was convinced to stay in the job by Baird.
October 10, 2016: Baird reverses greyhound ban, telling the public “We got it wrong … no one is infallible, no governments are infallible.”
Baird is also understood to be considering changes to NSW lockout laws, including a partial backdown.
October 20, 2016: A consortium of IFM Investors and AustralianSuper pays $16.189bn for the NSW electricity networks infrastructure, Ausgrid. The record-breaking transactions prompts the Government to bring forward almost $1bn of infrascturue projects as part of its Rebuilding NSW Plan.
November, 2016: Shooters, Fishers and Farmers party candidate Philip Donato claims victory in the regional seat of Orange, after a recount ordered by the Coalition. Donato’s victory end the Coalition’s reign over the blue-ribbon country seat, under conservative control since the Second World War.
December 8, 2016: Baird announces a partial wind back of lockout laws, including an extension to operating hours in pubs and clubs with live music, as part of a two year trial. The changes are widely panned for not going far enough.
December 13, 2016: NSW Budget update reveals NSW economy continues to lead the country, with predictions for surpluses to average around $1.8bn a year for the next four years.
“Five years ago, we inherited a broken budget and the nation’s weakest economy,” Treaurer Gladys Ms Berejiklian said.
“Now, we have by far the nation’s strongest Budget and fiscal position, and our economy is leading the nation on all key economic indicators.”
January, 2017: Baird resigns citing his parents’ and sister’s health issues, and a desire to spend more time with his immediate family.
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