John Barilaro stares down resign calls

John Barilaro has survived calls for his resignation and begun working to repair relations with some of his Coalition colleagues.

NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian watches as Deputy Premier John Barilaro addresses question time in the NSW parliament on Tuesday. Picture Justin Lloyd

John Barilaro has survived calls for his resignation from senior members of his own government and on Tuesday began working to repair relations with some of his Coalition colleagues, following days of heightened acrimony over koala habitat protections and an impending no-confidence motion into his leadership.

The Deputy Premier met with Police Minister David Elliott after question time on Monday to “clear the air” following a weekend of public criticism and calls for him to consider his position.

Mr Elliott was the first to make these calls public on Friday while touring the marginal seat of Dubbo, held by the Nationals with a 2 per cent margin.

He said the Deputy Premier’s threat to move Nationals colleagues to the crossbench marked the “greatest act of political bastardry in quite some time”, labelling his position as “untenable”.

Several government frontbenchers also weighed in, despite calls for stability from Premier Gladys Berejiklian, including Transport Minister Andrew Constance, Tourism Minister Stuart Ayres and Customer Services Minister Victor Dominello.

“We just agreed to clear the air and move on,” Mr Elliott told The Australian of the meeting.

Tuesday stood to mark a flashpoint in Mr Barilaro’s leadership, but rumours of number-counting among some Nationals, or the possibility of a spill motion, did not eventuate, his position going unchallenged during a partyroom meeting with Nationals MPs.

He currently holds the majority of his colleagues’ support: there are 19 Nationals MPs in NSW parliament, including Mr Barilaro, and at least 13 have publicly committed to supporting him since the saga unfolded.

At a joint-partyroom meeting held immediately afterwards with the Premier, Mr Barilaro said the Coalition agreement remained intact and ongoing divisions over koala protection laws would “be dealt with as agreed”.

Ms Berejiklian told the meeting she wanted to see grievances aired “in the appropriate forums”, a reference to Mr Barilaro’s prior expressions of discontent at a public press conference.

The easing of tension within the Coalition rests on a commitment from the Premier to debate the planning policy in an upcoming sitting of cabinet.

Ms Berejiklian deflected questions on Tuesday regarding when this would occur, but Mr Barilaro told colleagues it was tentatively scheduled for next week.

Should that occur, it will mark a partial concession from Ms Berejiklian, who had earlier refused to expedite the matter at Mr Bari­laro’s request, and whose supporters claimed last Friday that no compromises were made with Mr Barilaro during their negotiations.

“The Premier, (Treasurer) Dom­inic Perrottet and (Mental Health Minister) Bronnie Taylor and I had an agreement to see this matter dealt with,” Mr Barilaro told his Nationals colleagues.

“We will know in the next few days if they (the Liberal Party) will hold up their end.”

The Australian revealed on Monday that Ms Berejiklian also admitted to Mr Barilaro during their 25-minute meeting that the planning policy was flawed and deserved to be examined more closely by cabinet colleagues. She cited specific concerns for the potential impact the policy could impose on individual property rights.

Labor stepped up its attacks on Mr Barilaro during question time on Tuesday, challenging Liberal ministers to stand by their calls urging him to resign.

The parliament will on Wednesday debate a Labor-sponsored no-confidence motion in Mr ­Barilaro, which stands to test these same ministers on whether they will honour their public ­statements.

“It’s Labor’s belief that NSW needs stable government during the recession and pandemic,” said NSW Labor leader Jodi McKay.

“That cannot be achieved when the Coalition is embroiled in political infighting and while John Barilaro remains the Deputy Premier.”