Matt Kean set to become NSW Liberal Party deputy leader

NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet risks losing the support of some traditional Liberal Party voters by choosing leading moderate and climate champion Matt Kean to be his deputy.

Mr Kean was elected unopposed as deputy Liberal leader on Tuesday after right-winger David Elliott pulled out of the race saying the Premier didn’t want him.

The position had become vacant after Stuart Ayres resigned last week over allegations he was inappropriately involved in recruiting John Barilaro to a lucrative US trade role, allegations he denies.

As Treasurer and a leading moderate, Mr Kean was the obvious choice to complement Mr Perrottet who is from the right faction of the Liberals.

The Premier wanted to end internal division and avoid a ballot so effectively instructed Mr Elliott, who is from the centre right, to pull out of the race. 

Mr Kean’s election will undoubtedly help the Liberals appeal to the centre – and particularly the climate conscious voters who helped turf out the Morrison government at the May federal election by electing teal independents in formerly safe Liberal seats.

The Treasurer was a big critic of the Morrison government on integrity and climate, declaring: ‘Not having solutions to the big challenges our nation is facing, like climate change, is not acceptable.’ 

And he has even espoused a vision of ‘new capitalism’ about charting the ‘environmental and social benefits of the decisions we take, not just the financial benefits’. 

However, some fear his election as deputy liberal leader may turn off the die-hard Liberals on the right of the party, pushing them to minor parties right-wing such as One Nation. 

Certainly NSW One Nation leader Mark Latham hopes this will be the case, describing Mr Kean as a ‘vote loser’ for the Liberals.

‘All the feedback I get is that Matt Kean is a massive vote loser for the Liberal Party. He’s gone so far left, so far woke and so green,’ Mr Latham told 2GB radio.

The veteran politician believes the Perrottet government will probably lose to Chris Minns’ Labor in March.  

‘I think it’s another sign of a dying government. They’ve lost sense of where the electorate has got to. They have lost a sense of their party voting base,’ he said.

Earlier on Tuesday, Mr Elliott explained that Premier Perrottet had effectively told him to stand down from the deputy leadership race. 

‘He certainly didn’t tell me to withdraw, but he certainly said that he didn’t want to have a ballot. And I respect that,’ the frontbencher told 2GB.

‘I told him I respect his wish to pick his own deputy. I’ve had to eat some Humble Pie today.’

As Treasurer, Mr Kean has championed NSW’s green transition. 

In the state Budget in June, he announced an extra $38million for NSW’s electric car strategy, taking total investment to more than half a billion dollars.

The cash will be spent on rolling out more charging points in streets, apartment buildings and designated charging stations.

Mr Kean said rolling out more chargers will ‘allow more EV drivers to benefit from their cheaper running costs and a cleaner, quieter and more sustainable road network.’

He added: ‘You’ll never be far from a charger on our major highways, in regional destinations, apartment buildings and on kerbsides in metropolitan areas with limited off-street parking.’