'The Mike Baird story: how a Liberal princeling became Australia's most popular politician' diff viewer (0/1)

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The Mike Baird story: how a Liberal princeling became Australia's most popular politician	The Mike Baird story: how a Liberal princeling became Australia's most popular politician
2015-03-23 04:05:06 UTC	2015-03-24 10:30:58 UTC (1 day later)
At last he came alive. He was no better than dull earlier in the morning addressing a vast audience of senior citizens. They loved him. He dampened their enthusiasm. Day after day, doling out election millions at little press conferences in the streets, the premier shows no more than wooden panache.	At last he came alive. He was no better than dull earlier in the morning addressing a vast audience of senior citizens. They loved him. He dampened their enthusiasm. Day after day, doling out election millions at little press conferences in the streets, the premier shows no more than wooden panache.
But rallying party workers at the Parramatta RSL, he suddenly seemed to believe what he was doing. He was alive. The sports tragic premier was rousing his team for the second half of a game that’s proving no walkover.	But rallying party workers at the Parramatta RSL, he suddenly seemed to believe what he was doing. He was alive. The sports tragic premier was rousing his team for the second half of a game that’s proving no walkover.
“Across the world,” he declared, “they are looking at western Sydney and seeing progress: the north-west rail, the M4, the M5, Badgerys Creek airport, the additional roads. They are seeing this is actually the infrastructure not just of NSW, not just of Australia but indeed the world of the next five to 10 years.”	“Across the world,” he declared, “they are looking at western Sydney and seeing progress: the north-west rail, the M4, the M5, Badgerys Creek airport, the additional roads. They are seeing this is actually the infrastructure not just of NSW, not just of Australia but indeed the world of the next five to 10 years.”
But first Baird has to cash in the poles and wires. He knows the political carnage electricity privatisation has wrought on both sides of politics in New South Wales. The hunger of politicians to get at the electricity money and the fury of voters when they try is the backstory of politics in the state for much of the past 20 years.	But first Baird has to cash in the poles and wires. He knows the political carnage electricity privatisation has wrought on both sides of politics in New South Wales. The hunger of politicians to get at the electricity money and the fury of voters when they try is the backstory of politics in the state for much of the past 20 years.
The list of casualties is long. It ended the hopes of Liberal opposition leaders Kerry Chikarovski in 1999 and Peter Debnam in 2007. It saw Labor’s Morris Iemma torn down by his own party in 2008. The sale by Kristina Keneally of part of the electricity system in 2010 fed an appetite for vengeance which a few months later saw Labor thrown out of office after 16 years in power.	The list of casualties is long. It ended the hopes of Liberal opposition leaders Kerry Chikarovski in 1999 and Peter Debnam in 2007. It saw Labor’s Morris Iemma torn down by his own party in 2008. The sale by Kristina Keneally of part of the electricity system in 2010 fed an appetite for vengeance which a few months later saw Labor thrown out of office after 16 years in power.
Baird knows all that. He knows from Liberal party polling that the public’s hostility to privatisation – irrational, perhaps – is no less now than it has been all along. He knows his main task in this campaign is to change the mind of NSW about this single issue. And all the signs are that he is failing.	Baird knows all that. He knows from Liberal party polling that the public’s hostility to privatisation – irrational, perhaps – is no less now than it has been all along. He knows his main task in this campaign is to change the mind of NSW about this single issue. And all the signs are that he is failing.
The premier does not have a silver tongue or a memorable turn of phrase. He is no Keating. He does all the right things at the microphone. He promises money by the hundreds of millions of dollars. But the argument for privatisation isn’t gaining traction. By this stage of the campaign, his case is rarely making the news.	The premier does not have a silver tongue or a memorable turn of phrase. He is no Keating. He does all the right things at the microphone. He promises money by the hundreds of millions of dollars. But the argument for privatisation isn’t gaining traction. By this stage of the campaign, his case is rarely making the news.
Baird is not done for. But to an extraordinary degree his political survival depends on the public’s affection for him, an affection that might still outweigh the distaste for his signature policy. And he is liked. Polls suggest he is the most popular political leader in the country. Newspoll rates him by a wide margin as simply more likable than his Labor opponent Luke Foley.	Baird is not done for. But to an extraordinary degree his political survival depends on the public’s affection for him, an affection that might still outweigh the distaste for his signature policy. And he is liked. Polls suggest he is the most popular political leader in the country. Newspoll rates him by a wide margin as simply more likable than his Labor opponent Luke Foley.
Much of this affection rests on the notion that Baird is hardly a politician at all: a banker from the beaches, a quiet Christian, a man without a faction, Mr Nice Guy in Macquarie Street.	Much of this affection rests on the notion that Baird is hardly a politician at all: a banker from the beaches, a quiet Christian, a man without a faction, Mr Nice Guy in Macquarie Street.
But it’s not quite like that. Baird is a Liberal princeling who set his sights on parliament when he was still in his 20s. He might have made it as a very young man but was betrayed at the last minute. It was a life lesson, he told Guardian Australia. “Be careful who you trust.”	But it’s not quite like that. Baird is a Liberal princeling who set his sights on parliament when he was still in his 20s. He might have made it as a very young man but was betrayed at the last minute. It was a life lesson, he told Guardian Australia. “Be careful who you trust.”
Groomed for the leadership	Groomed for the leadership
In the Oxford Street mall in Sydney’s Bondi Junction, Baird assembles the local member, the mayor and a handful of television crews to announce a $10m fund to fight crime at a grassroots level. The plan is opaque. It seems to involve more lights and less graffiti.	In the Oxford Street mall in Sydney’s Bondi Junction, Baird assembles the local member, the mayor and a handful of television crews to announce a $10m fund to fight crime at a grassroots level. The plan is opaque. It seems to involve more lights and less graffiti.
No crowd gathers as he gets on with this political chore. Locals sit eating noodles. A skateboard trails by, ruining the sound for television. One of his bodyguards carries an umbrella though there is no sign of rain. In the window of a hair salon close by is a sign: “Brazilian Blowout, $99.”	No crowd gathers as he gets on with this political chore. Locals sit eating noodles. A skateboard trails by, ruining the sound for television. One of his bodyguards carries an umbrella though there is no sign of rain. In the window of a hair salon close by is a sign: “Brazilian Blowout, $99.”
Everything about Baird is neat – neat hair, neat suit and neat gestures. He is skinny fit. He wears a chunky watch and a wedding band. He checks his cuffs and scratches his nose. The default setting of his face is polite concern. His smile is quick but polite. Everything about Baird except his politically serviceable accent suggests a man who has been Well Brought Up.	Everything about Baird is neat – neat hair, neat suit and neat gestures. He is skinny fit. He wears a chunky watch and a wedding band. He checks his cuffs and scratches his nose. The default setting of his face is polite concern. His smile is quick but polite. Everything about Baird except his politically serviceable accent suggests a man who has been Well Brought Up.
It’s not the voice of his father, Bruce, the Liberal veteran of both the NSW and federal parliaments. Nor is it the cool voice of his sister, Julia, the journalist and ABC broadcaster. “They’ve got much better voices than I do,” Baird admits. “It’s a bit of a chainsaw, my voice. It’s pretty ocker.”	It’s not the voice of his father, Bruce, the Liberal veteran of both the NSW and federal parliaments. Nor is it the cool voice of his sister, Julia, the journalist and ABC broadcaster. “They’ve got much better voices than I do,” Baird admits. “It’s a bit of a chainsaw, my voice. It’s pretty ocker.”
Almost the only thing his contemporaries at the King’s school in Sydney remember about the young Baird was his Christian faith and his strong American accent.He arrived at the school at the age of 12 having lived almost all his young life in Germany and New York, where his father was a trade attache. At King’s they called him “Yankee Boy”.	Almost the only thing his contemporaries at the King’s school in Sydney remember about the young Baird was his Christian faith and his strong American accent.He arrived at the school at the age of 12 having lived almost all his young life in Germany and New York, where his father was a trade attache. At King’s they called him “Yankee Boy”.
“I didn’t want to leave New York,” he says. “I think if I’d been another 12 months I never would have been able to. I was in the American football team. I was in the rep baseball team. I had the girlfriend. My American life was lined up.”	“I didn’t want to leave New York,” he says. “I think if I’d been another 12 months I never would have been able to. I was in the American football team. I was in the rep baseball team. I had the girlfriend. My American life was lined up.”
He sank under the radar at King’s, a day boy in a tough boarding school with old pretentions about its place in Australia. “It was a brutal environment for a kid like that,” says Tim Duddy, who was with Baird then and faces off against him now in the campaign to save the Liverpool plains from coalminers. “That deep Christian gentleness he has is not something a school like that would nurture.”	He sank under the radar at King’s, a day boy in a tough boarding school with old pretentions about its place in Australia. “It was a brutal environment for a kid like that,” says Tim Duddy, who was with Baird then and faces off against him now in the campaign to save the Liverpool plains from coalminers. “That deep Christian gentleness he has is not something a school like that would nurture.”
His school record was drab: not bad at sport, a few prizes along the way and a mediocre pass in the higher school certificate. “I was never really an academic,” he says. “When I was interested, I did well.”	His school record was drab: not bad at sport, a few prizes along the way and a mediocre pass in the higher school certificate. “I was never really an academic,” he says. “When I was interested, I did well.”
Work taught him how to work. After graduating in arts and economics from Sydney University he got his first job, in a branch of the National Australia Bank. “I started to thrive,” he says. “Pretty much from day one I wanted to do the right thing, make sure I filled my responsibilities, and I charged on from there.”	Work taught him how to work. After graduating in arts and economics from Sydney University he got his first job, in a branch of the National Australia Bank. “I started to thrive,” he says. “Pretty much from day one I wanted to do the right thing, make sure I filled my responsibilities, and I charged on from there.”
Baird’s single-minded commitment to banking lasted about five years. In his mid-20s, already married, he flew to Canada in 1995 to study theology at Regent College in British Columbia. He left home, intent on becoming a minister. He returned after a year, with a fresh ambition: to enter politics.	Baird’s single-minded commitment to banking lasted about five years. In his mid-20s, already married, he flew to Canada in 1995 to study theology at Regent College in British Columbia. He left home, intent on becoming a minister. He returned after a year, with a fresh ambition: to enter politics.
Politics had become the family business. Bruce Baird had been a member of state parliament by this time for nearly 12 years. He proved a highly successful minister, a key figure in Sydney’s Olympic bid and missed by a whisker becoming premier of NSW after the downfall of Nick Greiner.	Politics had become the family business. Bruce Baird had been a member of state parliament by this time for nearly 12 years. He proved a highly successful minister, a key figure in Sydney’s Olympic bid and missed by a whisker becoming premier of NSW after the downfall of Nick Greiner.
Baird Jr set about finding a seat. With his wife, Kerryn, and their first child, Baird was living in the beach suburb of Manly where the Liberal party was in perpetual war with itself. All it needed to do to recapture the seat after years in the hands of Labor and independents was to find a presentable candidate. But time after time the Liberal machine managed to endorse duds: sinister rightwingers, property developers and political hacks.	Baird Jr set about finding a seat. With his wife, Kerryn, and their first child, Baird was living in the beach suburb of Manly where the Liberal party was in perpetual war with itself. All it needed to do to recapture the seat after years in the hands of Labor and independents was to find a presentable candidate. But time after time the Liberal machine managed to endorse duds: sinister rightwingers, property developers and political hacks.
“There was this deep angst in the party,” Baird says. “Everyone blamed everyone else for not getting there … there was all this inbuilt anger and tension about nonsense. If everybody just came together and said, ‘OK let’s work together and try and win,’ they would have won, but that disunity fed on itself.”	“There was this deep angst in the party,” Baird says. “Everyone blamed everyone else for not getting there … there was all this inbuilt anger and tension about nonsense. If everybody just came together and said, ‘OK let’s work together and try and win,’ they would have won, but that disunity fed on itself.”
Baird threw his hat in the ring in 1998 and came fifth in a field of five. But the man the party endorsed fell ill and within weeks there was another selection round. This time, Baird organised an alliance he believes should have seen him win. “The left were supposed to be backing me but they pulled out about five o’clock that night of the preselection and they never told me.”	Baird threw his hat in the ring in 1998 and came fifth in a field of five. But the man the party endorsed fell ill and within weeks there was another selection round. This time, Baird organised an alliance he believes should have seen him win. “The left were supposed to be backing me but they pulled out about five o’clock that night of the preselection and they never told me.”
Banking was his fallback position. He was 30 and was rising through the ranks of HSBC, which sent the Bairds to live for a time in London and Hong Kong. He might have tried for preselection again in 2003 but the party, he says, “had a view that they wanted a high-profile candidate to run. And Jean Hay was the local mayor and popular and a good friend of mine.” Despite offering a billion dollars to fix the Spit bridge on the main road to town, the Liberals lost again.	Banking was his fallback position. He was 30 and was rising through the ranks of HSBC, which sent the Bairds to live for a time in London and Hong Kong. He might have tried for preselection again in 2003 but the party, he says, “had a view that they wanted a high-profile candidate to run. And Jean Hay was the local mayor and popular and a good friend of mine.” Despite offering a billion dollars to fix the Spit bridge on the main road to town, the Liberals lost again.
Baird is still in many ways an American at heart. He follows US sports. He loves American books and films where faith and grit overcome all obstacles that stand between a hero and his dreams. Among his favourite films is Rudy, a 1990s football weepy in which young Rudy Ruettiger overcomes poverty, dyslexia and prejudice to make the Notre Dame football team.	Baird is still in many ways an American at heart. He follows US sports. He loves American books and films where faith and grit overcome all obstacles that stand between a hero and his dreams. Among his favourite films is Rudy, a 1990s football weepy in which young Rudy Ruettiger overcomes poverty, dyslexia and prejudice to make the Notre Dame football team.
Perseverance finally won Baird the seat of Manly in 2007. The rightwing machine along the northern beaches was more vicious than ever – think private detectives, smear campaigns, late night knocks on the door – but this time John Howard intervened to clinch the preselection for Baird. He campaigned under the banner “Integrity, Passion, Results”, offered another fortune to fix the Spit bridge and won the seat at the age of 39 with a 5% swing.	Perseverance finally won Baird the seat of Manly in 2007. The rightwing machine along the northern beaches was more vicious than ever – think private detectives, smear campaigns, late night knocks on the door – but this time John Howard intervened to clinch the preselection for Baird. He campaigned under the banner “Integrity, Passion, Results”, offered another fortune to fix the Spit bridge and won the seat at the age of 39 with a 5% swing.
Right at the start, the press and his backers hung an albatross round his neck: they declared Baird the inevitable heir. There was wild talk of him being groomed to replace Peter Debnam, the leader who had just taken the party to its fourth consecutive loss. And whenever Barry O’Farrell stumbled after his sweeping victory in 2011, Baird was touted as the next man.	Right at the start, the press and his backers hung an albatross round his neck: they declared Baird the inevitable heir. There was wild talk of him being groomed to replace Peter Debnam, the leader who had just taken the party to its fourth consecutive loss. And whenever Barry O’Farrell stumbled after his sweeping victory in 2011, Baird was touted as the next man.
The big end of Sydney always liked the idea. Young Baird knew business. He was a banker, a bit of a Bible basher but a banker nevertheless. And it was always clear that he backed the sale of electricity infrastructure. O’Farrell flinched from the political challenge but Baird was already on side. Indeed, from the time Baird came into parliament, privatising electricity was his One Big Idea.	The big end of Sydney always liked the idea. Young Baird knew business. He was a banker, a bit of a Bible basher but a banker nevertheless. And it was always clear that he backed the sale of electricity infrastructure. O’Farrell flinched from the political challenge but Baird was already on side. Indeed, from the time Baird came into parliament, privatising electricity was his One Big Idea.
O’Farrell appointed him treasurer but stripped him of much of the authority of the post and relegated him way down the line in cabinet. Baird professed not to be perturbed by this strange arrangement. He told Fairfax’s Sydney Magazine: “Everything I wanted and needed to do this role I had and was given.”	O’Farrell appointed him treasurer but stripped him of much of the authority of the post and relegated him way down the line in cabinet. Baird professed not to be perturbed by this strange arrangement. He told Fairfax’s Sydney Magazine: “Everything I wanted and needed to do this role I had and was given.”
He sacked department heads and drove job cuts in the public service. Sources familiar with Baird’s work as treasurer have told Guardian Australia that the ex-merchant banker’s big achievement was to reform the state’s accounts so that they began, for the first time in many years, to reflect its true financial position. His numbers were sound.	He sacked department heads and drove job cuts in the public service. Sources familiar with Baird’s work as treasurer have told Guardian Australia that the ex-merchant banker’s big achievement was to reform the state’s accounts so that they began, for the first time in many years, to reflect its true financial position. His numbers were sound.
The huge lead O’Farrell enjoyed over Labor in 2011 had been whittled away to a merely solid advantage by the time the Independent Commission Against Corruption compelled the premier’s resignation in April last year. As every oracle had foretold, Baird became premier.	The huge lead O’Farrell enjoyed over Labor in 2011 had been whittled away to a merely solid advantage by the time the Independent Commission Against Corruption compelled the premier’s resignation in April last year. As every oracle had foretold, Baird became premier.
The new man did not arrest the slow drift in the polls even though he sacked and sidelined Liberal politicians who earned the wrath of Icac; though he imposed new rules for political donations; though he stood up to the Abbott government on funding for health and education; though he spoke with impressive resolve after the siege of the Lindt cafe; and despite being clearly preferred as premier to his Labor opponent.	The new man did not arrest the slow drift in the polls even though he sacked and sidelined Liberal politicians who earned the wrath of Icac; though he imposed new rules for political donations; though he stood up to the Abbott government on funding for health and education; though he spoke with impressive resolve after the siege of the Lindt cafe; and despite being clearly preferred as premier to his Labor opponent.
The reason for the drift was clear: on Baird’s second day as premier he announced he would sell the poles and wires. UMR Research revealed in the Australian Financial Review in early May last year that support for the sale was running at 23% and opposition at 61%. Despite Baird’s best efforts in the months since, despite recalibrating the deal and spending a fortune promoting the benefits of the sale, opposition has only deepened.	The reason for the drift was clear: on Baird’s second day as premier he announced he would sell the poles and wires. UMR Research revealed in the Australian Financial Review in early May last year that support for the sale was running at 23% and opposition at 61%. Despite Baird’s best efforts in the months since, despite recalibrating the deal and spending a fortune promoting the benefits of the sale, opposition has only deepened.
“I’ve never ever wanted to come in and just tread water,” he tells Guardian Australia. “The thing that’s frustrated me about this whole debate is that everyone knows it’s the right thing to do.” Everyone? “Well both sides of politics and even academic analysis and a broad range of experts.”	“I’ve never ever wanted to come in and just tread water,” he tells Guardian Australia. “The thing that’s frustrated me about this whole debate is that everyone knows it’s the right thing to do.” Everyone? “Well both sides of politics and even academic analysis and a broad range of experts.”
But not the people.	But not the people.
“The issue of trust is critical to me,” he says. “Part of why people just hate privatisation is that they’ve been deceived along the way.” That is why he is taking privatisation to an election: to repair broken trust. “It’s the only way that you’ll have a chance of getting any reforms through.”	“The issue of trust is critical to me,” he says. “Part of why people just hate privatisation is that they’ve been deceived along the way.” That is why he is taking privatisation to an election: to repair broken trust. “It’s the only way that you’ll have a chance of getting any reforms through.”