NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet won’t be toppled by his main leadership rival following damaging revelations he wore a Nazi uniform to his 21st birthday party.
Treasurer and deputy Liberal leader Matt Kean said on Monday he wouldn’t challenge the premier and the government was ready to move on from the scandal.
“I’ve been one of (the premier’s) most loyal and fiercest supporters,” Mr Kean told Nine’s Today Show.
“What we want to see is Dom Perrottet lead the Liberal party to the election and beyond.
“That’s exactly what’s going to happen.”
It comes after Mr Perrottet’s admission last week he wore a Nazi uniform to his 21st, for which he has repeatedly apologised.
He will face cabinet colleagues on Monday in the first party room meeting since revealing the costume scandal.
Mr Kean also lashed out at anonymous Liberal party sources who claimed there was a photo in circulation of Mr Perrottet wearing the Nazi costume, telling 2GB he did not believe the image existed.
“Whoever did this is a horrible coward and they should come out of the swamp from which they’re living,” he said.
A NSW minor party leader has meanwhile seized on the controversy, referring Mr Perrottet to police to see if his 2010 preselection declaration broke the law.
Shooters, Fisher and Farmers party leader Robert Borsak said on Sunday he believed Mr Perrottet may have breached the Oaths Act by failing to reveal the costume incident in his statutory declaration to the Liberal party 13 years ago.
It is not publicly known if Mr Perrottet failed to declare the now-controversial incident because relevant document remains confidential.
“The premier has apologised for making a terrible mistake at his 21st birthday and this is nothing more than a stunt,” a spokesperson for the premier said.
Mr Borsak also hopes to use his position on parliament’s Public Accountability Committee to push for a probe into Mr Perrottet’s fitness to be premier.
But this looks destined to fail, with Mr Borsak outnumbered by major party MPs, including Labor, who are unlikely to support the push.
Mr Perrottet on Sunday tried to put the incident behind him, saying it was not reflective of the person he was today.
His colleagues have rallied around him, with Roads Minister Natalie Ward saying the incident didn’t represent the man she knew.
Mr Borsak is a controversial figure in parliament.
In September, he suggested independent MP and former party member Helen Dalton should be “clocked”.
This prompted two of his MPs to quit after Mr Borsak refused to apologise or resign over the comments.
Labor leader Chris Minns, who faces off with the premier at a state election in March, has not called for his rival to resign.
On Tuesday he told 2GB Mr Perrottet had made a mistake and his apology seemed to be genuine.
