No lectures from Bob Carr
NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet has said he won’t take lectures from former Labor premiers about damaging revelations he wore a Nazi uniform to his 21st birthday party.
The NSW premier is being referred to police to see whether he breached the law in his preselection.
Photo: Bianca De Marchi/AAP
Former Labor NSW premier Bob Carr criticised the premier on Twitter last week for wearing the costume nearly two decades ago, saying it rendered him incapable of winning the upcoming state election.
“I won’t be taking lectures from him,” Mr Perrottet told reporters on Monday when asked about Mr Carr’s views.
“This is a former Labor premier who left our state with a $30 billion infrastructure backlog and put poker machines on every street corner.
“We’re still cleaning up his mess.”
Mr Carr fired back on Monday, saying Mr Perrottet was facing political oblivion and would only be remembered for his costume scandal.
“(Mr) Perrottet needs distractions from his passions for the Nuremberg parade ground and the uniformed Hitler youth,” Mr Carr told AAP on Monday.
“Maybe (Transport Minister) David Elliott has not just a photo, but video footage of him singing Tomorrow Belongs to Me,” Mr Carr said.
Tomorrow Belongs to Me is a 1960s song linked with the alt-right and neo-Nazism.
Last week, it emerged Mr Elliott had raised the costume with Mr Perrottet two days before the premier came clean about it.
“The only question now is whether it’s his party or the people of NSW that dispose of him,” Mr Carr said.
“One thing is for certain – he will be remembered for the Nazi uniform and not anything else.”
Former premier Bob Carr
Treasurer Matt Kean said he would not challenge the premier for the party’s leadership ahead of the March 26 poll, and the government was ready to move on from the scandal.
“I’ve been one of (the premier’s) most loyal and fiercest supporters,” he told Nine’s Today Show on Monday.
“What we want to see is Dom Perrottet lead the Liberal party to the election and beyond.”
Mr Perrottet will face cabinet colleagues today in the first party room meeting since he revealed 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.
“These horrible cowards should come out from the swamp that they’re living in to put their name to these horrible smears,” Mr Kean told reporters.
Photos of the costume did not exist, he said.
Shooters, Fishers and Farmers party leader Robert Borsak has referred Mr Perrottet to police to see if his 2010 preselection declaration broke the law.
Mr Borsak said on Sunday he believed Mr Perrottet might 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 the relevant document remains confidential.
Mr Borsak hopes to use his position on parliament’s Public Accountability Committee to push for a probe into Mr Perrottet’s fitness to be premier.
“Robert Borsak has his own problems. He has relevance deprivation,” the premier said on Monday.
The move looks destined to fail, as NSW Shadow Treasurer Daniel Moohkey said NSW Labor would not support a referral to the Public Accountability Committee.
“It is clear that the Liberal Party is divided,” Mr Mookhey told reporters.
“The premier should explain why this seemingly has come from his own party.”
Labor leader Chris Minns has not called for his rival to resign and on Monday said he thought Mr Perrottet’s apology was genuine.
AAP
Enough of this already! He was a stupid kid at the time.. and please do tell me that none of the ones pointing fingers EVER did anything stupid as 20 years olds which they might regret or at least not do now as they are older and mature. If we all knew it all at 20 why arent there ane 20 year old presidents, prime ministers or generals??
It is unfortunate, it was a bad decision, but move on people!! Dominic has grown up and so should all of you!