NSW reshuffle plan designed to keep seats safe

Senior NSW Coalition MPs are bracing for an expected reshuffle of cabinet portfolios due to the bushfire crisis.

NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian. Picture: AAP

Senior NSW Coalition MPs are bracing for an expected reshuffle of cabinet portfolios because of the bushfire crisis and uncertainty around two ministers, with jostlin­g already under way to secure­ key portfolios.

MPs say the futures of John Sidoti­ and Andrew Constance, whose home was nearly razed by a bushfire, could provide the trigger­s for a shake-up in cabinet. 

Most senior ministers say Premier Gladys Berejiklian is unlikely to juggle too many port­folios, mainly out of fears it would cause dumped MPs to quit parliament and jeopardise her two-seat majority. 

A more likely scenario, they said, was a “minor reshuffle” that would take gender and political leanings into account, and would maintain stability ahead of a major reshuffle closer to the 2023 election.

Mr Sidoti stepped aside as sport minister in September after a referral to the Independent Commission Against Corruption alleging he improperly used infor­m­ation about the Sydney Metro project to buy properties along the proposed rail line. He has repeatedly denied wrongdoing.

Two senior ministers told The Weekend Australian a decision on his matter would provide a trigger for a reshuffle, although one believed a verdict was unlikely any time soon. 

Mr Sidoti declined to comment when contacted.

The Weekend Australian has been told replacement candidates for his cabinet spot have already been chosen, with his position likely to be given to either Ku-ring-gai MP Alister Henskens or Oatley MP Mark Coure.

Meanwhile, the future of Mr Constance, the Transport Minister, remains unclear. On Tuesday, he made the surprise announcement he would step back from his ministerial and parliamentary responsibili­ties to focus attention on the bushfire recovery in his electorate of Bega.

Two days later, he gave a television interview saying he needed counselling to process the trauma the crisis had inflicted on his family and community. His office did not reply to questions.

“If the Transport Minister doesn’t come back, it presents a problem for the party,” said one MP.

The Premier’s sole focus remained­ on “bushfire recovery”, her office said. 

At least two MPs are understood to be jockeying for Mr ­Sidoti’s former sport portfolio.

Another senior MP said the Premier was unlikely to conduct a wide-ranging reshuffle so far out from an election. Instead, a minor reshuffle could suffice for the next 18 months until a 2023 “campaign cabinet” could be formed.

A second MP said Ms Berejiklian was “too conservative, too risk-averse” to potentially get “noses out of joint” with a re­shuffle. “She’ll hang on to Sidoti as long as possible,” the MP added.

MPs split between the various factions are already working to undermine their rivals for pros­pective port­folios, highlighting missteps, policy­ failures, own goals and com­peting interests for why “deadweight” ministers should be dropped. 

One target of the sniping is Don Harwin, Arts Minister and Special Minister of State, blamed by some colleagues for being the reason the government struggles to push legislation through the upper house, where he is the leader of government business.

It’s alleged that this boils down to poor relationships with con­serv­ative crossbenchers. “We’d go so far as to say the government does need a new leader in our house,” said Robert Borsak, leader of the Shooters, Fishers and Farmers Party.

Other MPs on both the left and right have taken aim at Police Minister David Elliott for taking an overseas holiday during the bushfire emergency (he returned as the situation escal­ated), and for an alleged road rage incident where he was accused of impersonating a police officer. An inquiry cleared him of wrongdoing.