NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet has denied factional warfare was the trigger for his public admission that he wore a Nazi uniform to his 21st birthday party and insists he had the backing of his Liberal colleagues to lead them to the state election.
The premier said he had received overwhelming support from colleagues in the hours since he issued an emotional mea culpa over the uniform, but maintained his focus was on the communities who had been hurt by his actions.
“It’s not about politics, it’s about doing what’s right,” he said on Friday at Ryde Hospital, flanked by his outgoing senior colleagues Health Minister Brad Hazzard and Customer Service Minister Victor Dominello.
Hazzard said Perrottet had been critical in leading the state through the worst of the pandemic.
“Without him doing his job he did as part of the crisis cabinet that we went through 2½ years ago in some of our darkest times, it would have been a completely different outcome. He’s an amazing guy, he’s done an incredible job. And that’s all that I’m prepared to say,” he said.
Dominello added that the premier also enjoyed his full support.
Perrottet was forced to make the humiliating public admission on Thursday after it was raised in a private conversation with Transport Minister David Elliott on Tuesday. It followed days of tension between the pair over several issues, including the future of poker machines.
Read the article by Lucy Cormack and Sarah Keoghan in WAToday.