THE New South Wales Coalition is expecting to lose the upcoming by-election following the resignation of Upper Hunter National MP Michael Johnsen.
Premier Gladys Berejiklian said that the Liberal-National Coalition would need a “miracle” to win the seat previously filled by Mr Johnsen.
- Coalition requires a “miracle” to retain the seat previously held by Nationals.
- Loss would throw Liberal-National Coalition into minority government.
- Nationals have held the resource-rich mining seat since 1932.
Deputy Premier John Barilaro called for Mr Johnsen’s immediate resignation and suspension from the National Party after it was revealed the ex-MP sent lewd texts during Question Time and offered a sex worker $1000 for services inside state Parliament.
Mr Johnsen is currently being investigated by the NSW Police Sex Crimes Squad for an alleged assault in September 2019 against the same sex worker he called in the State Parliament.
MINORITY
Ms Berejiklian was frank in admitting the loss of the by-election would cause the Liberal-National Coalition to become a minority government.
“That’s not to say we won’t put a strong case, we’ll put our best foot forward, but the math is against us,” Ms Berejiklian said.
Legislative Assembly Speaker Jonathon O’Dea announced the by-election date is set for May 22.
Historically, by-elections in Australia have always boasted a double-digit swing against governments. The Berejiklian government was re-elected in 2019 with 48 seats against 36 Labor seats.
Leader of the Opposition Jodi McKay said the Premier’s statement was “quite extraordinary” as the Nationals have held the seat since 1932.
MIRACLE
“I actually think it will take a miracle for the National Party to lose this seat,” Ms McKay said.
Ms Berejiklian, however, says she is not concerned about passing bills even with a minority government.
“I’m confident those independent members of the house will support good legislation,” she said.
The Upper Hunter seat represents a mix of industries, including prime agriculture regions responsible for horse studs, vineyards and beef production.
A 2016 census saw that the electorate contains NSW’s highest proportion of miners (14.2 per cent), a factor that NSW Labor hoped would play in their favour last election.
The region stretches inland along the New England highway and includes Dungog, Stroud, and Gloucester to the north of Maitland.PC
“[…] we’ll put our best foot forward […]”
Good on you Gladys, here are a few suggestions as to how to do that:
1. Tear down and rebuild a perfectly good sports stadium (tell the public that the ROI means that the cost will be recouped in just two years; the voting public love it when you insult their collective intelligence as you waste their hard-earned taxes on bread and circuses).
2. Move the Powerhouse Museum to Parramatta (it will cost a lot and bring no tangible benefits whatsoever, and will thus showcase your government’s “responsible economic management” very nicely).
3. Order new trains that won’t fit through tunnels and new ferries that won’t fit under bridges (to show up those fools in One Nation, who don’t even know what “xenophobia” is).
4. Facilitate the slaughter of unborn children, legalising the murder of innocents right up to the moment of birth (because they’re not really alive at all; they’re just pesky extraneous appendages, the fact that some survive the attempt to kill them notwithstanding).
5. Try to loosen up bestiality laws (because everyone knows that the recent scandals in Canberra are passe, and that the voters of N.S.W. ideally prefer M.P.s who have more refined predilections and are keen to engage in congress with chickens, goats, dogs, horses, and cows).
6. Hire a left-wing loony as a minister for energy and the environment, and let him indulge his socialist fantasies by recruiting a failed ex-P.M. who is roundly and rightly despised as a narcissistic know-nothing nonentity (because your conservative base will really respect you for allowing bold political choices to be made, in the same way that in 1944 and 1945 the Japanese held kamikaze pilots in the highest regard).