That's a wrap
Hope you stuck with us during an admittedly bloodless debate between Labor’s Luke Foley and the NSW premier, Mike Baird. Here’s how it went down:
- Mike Baird has doubled down on his promise to lease 49% of the state’s electricity network, claiming it will generate $20bn that will be used to fund major infrastructure, including the controversial WestConnex extension of the M4.
- Luke Foley said Labor opposed the plan. “Power prices will rise. The state budget will be deprived of $1bn a year,” he says.
- Foley also cast doubt on whether Baird would be able to lease the assets at the price he’s claimed, given the government’s failure to sell a power station in December. “There’s no plan B, if he can’t sell the electricity network he can’t deliver any of his promises,” Foley said.
- Both leaders have distanced themselves from claims by the prime minister, Tony Abbott, that Australia’s Muslim community needs to do more to counter extremism in its ranks. Baird says he “will always be grateful” for the role Muslim leaders played in the aftermath of December’s Sydney siege. Foley says Muslim community figures are “voices for community harmony and tolerance”.
- Baird said his government had struck the right balance between community concerns and the needs of industry on the issue of coal seam gas mining. Foley said land-use conflict was at an all-time high in the state, and Labor would put a complete moratorium on the controversial extraction process.
- Baird has emphatically refused to buy into whether Tony Abbott’s unpopularity might be a millstone around his government’s neck as it seeks re-election. He said voters would be able to distinguish between the two governments. Foley said Baird needed to use his “friendship” with the prime minister to demand better outcomes for the state.
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Closing statements
Foley first, homing in on Baird’s claim that there is no plan B if the state cannot lease its electricity assets. “If he can’t sell the electricity network and he can’t raise $20bn, all of his promises mean nothing. There’s no plan B,” he says.
“He can’t guarantee you that he can sell the state’s electricity network, he can’t guarantee you he’ll get the $20bn. And he won’t tell you the price he will sell it for. If he can’t get $13bn, will he get $10bn?
Baird in reply: “We have two visions for NSW. Labor have outlined a vision that’s simply saying we can’t have the infrastructure we need and deserve. That’s what the unions are saying.”
He points out that the Baird government’s electricity sell-off has the support of Labor figures such as Morris Iemma, Paul Keating and Martin Ferguson. “What we are here to do is deliver a vision that will transform this state,” he says.
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Foley is asked why he would be better placed to win back federal funding for NSW health and education services, which were removed in the May federal budget.
“We’d take the fight up on behalf of the people of NSW. We need a premier who will stand up and fight the PM and treasurer without fear or favour,” he says.
He turns to Baird: “Mike you should use your friendship with Tony Abbott to demand better results for NSW.”
Baird is asked about Abbott’s controversial remarks on Monday that Muslim leaders need to do more to deal with extremism in their communities. Does he agree with Abbott?
“I agree with the Muslim community,” Baird says. He pivots to the aftermath of the Sydney siege. “On that day I saw a great response from the Muslim community. There was a determination to ensure what we saw in our city was not hate or division but peace and unity. I will always be grateful to the Muslim community for playing that role.”
“I agree with Mike,” Foley says. “I met with dozens of them last Sunday night, Muslim community leaders. They are voices for community harmony and tolerance.”
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Sean Nicholls asks if Baird will admit his government has broken its promise to stop coal seam gas mining near water catchments.
Baird says the government has paused the industry and sought the advice of the chief scientist before handing out new licences.
“We will listen to the experts, we will listen to the community, we will weigh up the risks and we will ensure we’ll get it right.”
Foley says that under Baird’s policy “land-use conflict in NSW is at an all-time high”. “And when it comes to CSG we stand for a moratorium,” he says.
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Talking WestConnex now. Chris Smith says the process has become a “dog’s breakfast” and claims not even the transport minister understands it. “Shouldn’t we be focusing on some public transport corridors?” he asks.
Baird says he’s investing in both. “The main part of our Rebuilding NSW strategy is rebuilding the railway network, that second harbour crossing, opening up the city.”
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Cheeky question from Kieran Gilbert: “You’re friends with both Tony Abbott and Malcolm Turnbull, can you talk us through their respective strengths.
Baird: “No.”
Foley: “Do you want me to help?”
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It’s a bit of a muddle so far, this debate. Flitting between issues. Baird says the government is investing record amounts in education and health. More nurses, more teachers.
“Budget discipline has come but we have made sure we have enhanced the critical services we need,” he says.
Sean Nicholls: “Your mob was thrown out violently by the NSW people only four years ago.”
Luke Foley: “Emphatically – it wasn’t violent.”
SN: “Given that, why should the NSW electorate even consider voting in a Labor government?”
LF: “I lead a new Labor team focused on the challenges of the future ... I was not a minister in the former government. I came in five minutes before the last election in the upper house ... I spoke out at length about what had gone wrong. There won’t be a repeat of that under my leadership.”
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Luke Foley is asked about the recognisability factor - the fact that few people know who he is. Foley tells us about an exchange he had buying “my spuds” at the Flemington Market on Saturday.
“I know who you are,” a grocer said.
“Who am I?” Foley replied.
“I don’t know – but you’re him,” he said.
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Lizzie Pearl raises the fact that polls show that NSW citizens actually oppose electricity privatisation.
“I’m being honest ... This is what we think is needed,” Baird says. “There is an oportunity to make a real difference to this city and state, and I think all of us have had enough of second-best.”
Mike Baird making a spirited defense of privatization of electricity assets. pic.twitter.com/lWwytkxLEL
— Julian Chung (@julianchung) February 27, 2015
Will Baird ever move to privatise the entire electricity network?
Baird rules it out if given another term. “That’s the commitment I am giving,” he says.
But he refuses to rule it out in some future term. “There are future governments in future years ... I’m not going to make promises for 10, 15 years time.”
He says he’s going into the election seeking a mandate for 51% government ownership, and leasing 49%.
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@mikebairdMP asked if we have a "lame duck govt" if poles and wires leases don't go ahead. Responds: "we don't have a Plan B" #leadersdebate
— APN Newsdesk (@APNNewsdesk) February 27, 2015
Foley seizes on the fact that a number of the Baird government’s promises rely on revenue from selling the state’s electricity distribution and transmission networks.
“There’s no plan B, if he can’t sell the electricity network he can’t deliver any of his promises,” Foley says.
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The first question by Sky’s Kieran Gilbert is about the woes of the federal government, and whether they might affect Baird’s chances of re-election
“There’s no doubt the federal government is having difficulties,” Baird says. Naturally, he thinks voters will make the distinction between his government and Tony Abbott’s.
Foley is already pressing the issue, talking about $25bn that Baird’s “mate” Tony Abbott has pulled from the state’s infrastructure fund.
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Opening Statements
Luke Foley is up first, and he begins by addressing the Baird government’s policy of selling the state’s electrical assets.
“I won’t do this,” Foley says. “Power prices will rise. The state budget will be deprived of $1bn a year.
“Labor, investing in health and education, the Liberals, in Sydney and in Canberra, cutting it,” he says.
Second is Mike Baird. “I didn’t come in just to tread water,” he says.
He points to the introduction of 120,000 jobs, an economy that’s gone “from last to leading the nation again”, and the best crime statistics in 25 years.
“We have also delivered the Opal card,” he says. “I want to make a great state even greater.”
NSW Labor candidate Luke Foley first to take the stage. pic.twitter.com/LaWS5TSTOR
— Julian Chung (@julianchung) February 27, 2015
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The questioners today will be Sean Nicholls from the Sydney Morning Herald, Lizzie Pearl from the Nine Network, and Chris Smith from 2GB radio. Kieran Gilbert from Sky News will be MC.
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Anybody keen to see the premier, Mike Baird, re-enact Jimmy Kimmel’s famous “mean tweets” segment is going to be disappointed. The three-minute clip, in which Baird reads out silly and stinging tweets and Facebook messages people have written about him, has been pulled from YouTube at the request of a US music label.
Baird’s clip featured a grab from an obscure little track called Shake It Off by an American pop star named Taylor Swift whom I’m told is well-liked in some circles (sorry, I only listen to Triple J, so never heard of her). It also featured REM’s classic Everybody Hurts. Apparently the premier’s office didn’t secure rights to either track.
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Welcome
Welcome to Guardian Australia’s live coverage of the unofficial beginning of the 2015 New South Wales election, as Labor’s Luke Foley faces off against the premier and leader of the state Liberal party, Mike Baird.
Foley won the leadership just two months ago and a Galaxy poll published earlier this week suggested his Labor party trails Baird’s Liberals 47-53 on the two-party preferred. A Fairfax-Ipsos poll showed the Liberals’ lead was even greater, at 56-44.
The personal popularity stakes are even rosier for Baird. Forty-six percent of voters say he would make a better premier than Foley, who picked up less than half that amount, just 22%.
Foley will need to make his presence felt today and land a few blows on the premier. Baird will want to extend his formidable lead – or at least do nothing to shake it.
Sydney’s movers and shakers are inside the Millennium room at ANZ Stadium being fed and watered and both leaders are preparing to ascend the stage. Stay with us, we’ll be following it live.
THE stage is set for the #leadersdebate @mikebairdMP v @Luke_FoleyNSW @ANZStadium #YourOlympicStadium pic.twitter.com/xDWgTyXgWy
— ANZ Stadium (@ANZStadium) February 27, 2015
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