Premier Mike Baird was an “excellent captain” but the team beneath him was “bowled out for a duck”, according to the Mayor of Port Stephens Bruce MacKenzie.
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Cr MacKenzie admitted that the Baird government had been unpopular in the wake of the premier’s resignation announcement on Thursday morning, but laid the blame at the feet of senior ministers and government bureaucrats.
“Deep down Mike Baird is a decent human being,” Cr MacKenzie said.
“A lot of the criticism that was directed at him was probably unwarranted because of the ability of some of his ministers.
“Some of his ministers were very ordinary as far as their ability...they were there in name only but there was not much substance and not much direction.”
Cr MacKenzie has been a vocal opponent of the Baird government’s amalgamation plans for Newcastle and Port Stephens councils and described the policy as a disaster in the Hunter.
He admitted Mr Baird had “miscalculated” on the merger issue but suggested the controversy over the greyhound ban – and subsequent backflip – was not solely the premier’s responsibility.
“I have no doubt that Mike Baird is an animal lover but I think he was badly advised by bureaucrats,” Cr MacKenzie said.
He expressed doubts about whether Treasurer Gladys Berejiklian should be anointed Mr Baird’s successor, after she confirmed she would contest the leadership of the NSW Liberal Party on Thursday.
“I think to be the premier you’ve got to be a bit of a head kicker or backside kicker and I don’t think that she is,” he said.
“You have to be able to pull the ministers and pull the bureaucrats into line.
“At the moment some of the government departments are absolutely ruining NSW with their rules and regulations and they are answerable to no one.”
Cr MacKenzie conceded the 2014 ICAC scandal – which claimed the scalps of four Hunter Liberal MPs – had not been handled well by Mr Baird, and his own local government area had at times been overlooked in favour of Liberal seats and larger cities.
But he applauded the Baird government’s revitalisation agenda in Newcastle, including the truncation of the rail line.
“The Newcastle heavy rail line probably should of gone 20 years ago. Newcastle is starting to come alive because of the Baird government,” he said.
