Pink cupcakes, blue shirts and plenty of sausages greeted Premier Dominic Perrottet as he cast his vote in his bid to lead the coalition to a historic fourth term in power in NSW.
Accompanied by his wife Helen and the couple’s youngest daughter, Celeste, the premier said “it’s a very important day for the future of our state – there’s a lot at stake”.
“Our party has been a team for over 12 years that has transformed NSW … We’ve turned the economy around, built the schools and hospitals, the trains and motorways that’s transformed people’s lives,” he told reporters at Beecroft in his seat of Epping in northwest Sydney.
He also lauded the coalition’s economic credentials as getting families through rampant inflation.
“You can’t support households if you don’t have a strong budget. It is strong economic and financial management that ensures downward pressure on household budgets … and we’ve done that.”
Treasurer Matt Kean, who reportedly has a testy and pragmatic relationship with the premier, was coy about his political ambitions beyond Saturday if the coalition loses.
“The key things is that we ensure we hold our heartland seats … History is against us … We don’t intend to lose tonight,” he told Sky News warning voters against choosing teal candidates.
“What I want to do is to make sure we continue to build a strong economy, … and that’s what I’m going to keep fighting for,” he said when asked if he would like to be premier before describing Mr Perrottet as a “great conservative premier”.
Bernard James, a 32-year-old lawyer who commutes to Parramatta for work, who voted for the premier said he was a strong leader and lauded the metro line cutting down his commute time.
But he had concerns about the Liberal Party’s cohesion pointing to several corruption scandals that have dogged it in recent years.
“Hopefully he wins and the next government isn’t controlled by the independents,” he told AAP at Beecroft.
For excited first time voter Maddie Granger, 18, she chose the Greens as representing her concerns.
“I didn’t know both the Liberals and Labor were supported by fossil fuel companies so I decided to go with the Greens because climate change for me is an important concern,” the university student told AAP minutes after the premier arrived at the polling station.
Mr Perrottet later headed to East Hills held by Wendy Lindsay, one of the state’s most marginal seats (0.1 per cent), in a final push to bolster the Liberals’ result.
The premier has visited the seat at least twice in recent weeks underscoring the need to retain tightly contested seats.
“The seat is always challenging and with the four years we’ve had including droughts, COVID and my electorate flooding four times … my team and I have had helped hundreds if not thousands with a variety of things,” Ms Lindsay told AAP.
She noted the premier’s experience as a treasurer and his leadership amid natural disasters as well as his recently announced signature policy Kids Future Fund as factors that will get him across the electoral finish line.
