Berejiklian Government Secures Majority in NSW

NSW Premiere Gladys Berejiklian (C) celebrates her win at the Sofitel Wentworth on March 23, 2019 in Sydney, Australia. (Brook Mitchell/Getty Images)

The Berejiklian government has secured a majority in NSW by winning a 47th seat in the 93-seat lower house following the weekend’s election.

The coalition was returned to power on March 23 for a third-straight term but it wasn’t immediately clear if it had won enough seats to govern in its own right.

That question was answered on Monday when Nationals candidate Dugald Saunders was declared the winner in Dubbo by ABC election analyst Antony Green following an extremely close count.

Vision Key to Federal Win: NSW Premier

Freshly reinstated NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian says her political colleagues in Canberra should focus on the community and not themselves as the federal election looms.

Berejiklian, who defeated NSW Labor leader Michael Daley on Saturday, has offered the advice when asked what Prime Minister Scott Morrison’s team can learn from her campaign.

Michael Daley is pictured at Padstow Park Public School on March 23, 2019 in Sydney, Australia. (Brook Mitchell/Getty Images)

“I think what our campaign in NSW demonstrated is that the community rewards people that work hard,” she told Seven’s Sunrise on Monday.

“We focus on the community and we have a plan for the future.”

“My advice to anybody seeking high office would be that it is all about the community, not about ourselves.”

The coalition at a federal level has been buoyed by the NSW result, with Attorney-General Christian Porter on Sunday saying it shows the national poll, expected in May, is absolutely winnable.

The morale boost comes despite the NSW Nationals losing some ground, including two seats that have gone to the Shooters, Fishers, and Farmers.

Liberal senator Arthur Sinodinos says the Liberals and Nationals must band together to differentiate themselves from other parties in the bush.

But former Nationals leader, now backbencher, Barnaby Joyce says his party must run its own race.

“We have to clearly announce our own policies in our own seats, not the explanation to our people of the wishes of other people living somewhere else,” he told The Australian.

Morrison says the Liberals will work constructively with the Nationals on all issues, including energy.

“We'll continue to work constructively with the National Party because we are part of the one government, and we always come to resolutions on important issues,” he told reporters in Melbourne.

Labor leader Bill Shorten believes Berejiklian’s victory as a more moderate Liberal should give conservative Liberal Party members food for thought.

Bill Shorten and shadow Attorney General Mark Dreyfus address the Islamic community at the Islamic Council of Victoria on March 16, 2019.

“People don’t like extremes in political parties,” he told reporters.

Independent federal MP Kerryn Phelps says the NSW coalition generally has more moderates than at the federal level, meaning the Morrison government shouldn’t be too excited by the state win.

“People are smart enough to see there’s a very big difference between the two,” she told Sky News.

Retiring Liberal MP Craig Laundy says the coalition at both the state and federal level will have an advantage over Labor in Sydney in the coming few years, as long-term infrastructure projects come to fruition.

“It’s not sexy in the delivery, infrastructure ... It is sexy in opening and using,” he told ABC Radio National.

MP Craig Laundy speaks during the opening of the Rugby Australia Building on Oct. 27, 2017 in Sydney, Australia. (Matt King/Getty Images for the ARU)