The people of NSW have spoken: sack yourself, Mr Rees
ENRAGED NSW voters are demanding Premier Nathan Rees resign and call an election to seek a fresh mandate - or make way for the Opposition to fix NSW.
Thousands of The Daily Telegraph readers yesterday flooded our website saying the four-year fixed term was a joke and Mr Rees should face the people now.
After delivering one of the most unpopular Budgets in NSW history, with a $3.6 billion tax grab, Mr Rees virtually conceded defeat 864 days before the next election, due on March 26, 2011.
"Now, you might think you might fall over the line at the next election," he replied to a question from Liberal Leader Barry O'Farrell. "I tell you what, we will make you work every step of the way."
Grill Treasurer Eric Roozendaal in an exclusive live blog today, 11am
Mr Rees' admission that his Government was facing annihilation, followed a Daily Telegraph online poll in which a total of 4907 voters responded to the question: "Should Nathan Rees quit as Premier and call an election now?"
A resounding 91 per cent of people replied, "Yes", agreeing that his mini-Budget caused more pain for families and the Government had lost its way.
Sack the government: Sign the petition now
The poll was almost five times bigger than the samples used by Newspoll to gauge national voting intentions before elections. The Daily Telegraph also established a petition to gauge whether readers wanted to sack the Government and last night people were signing up at the rate of one every 20 seconds.
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Labor backbenchers said the mood among MPs was worse than it had been before Morris Iemma was dumped as Premier and replaced with Mr Rees.
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They said the axing of the $50 back to school allowance, the $180 for student travel passes, the $4 congestion tax on the Harbour crossing, licence fees for childcare centres and axing of rail projects would cost them their seats.
They said they would be harder to sell to their electorates than the power privatisation that cost Mr Iemma his job.
Special section: NSW mini-Budget full coverage
"There are some very unhappy people in the caucus," said a senior MP. "How do we sell this Budget? That is a good question. My constituents at the local school will be heartened by the protection of the AAA rating."
Even worse for Mr Rees was the refusal of ratings agency Standard & Poor's to take the state off credit watch - the entire reason being pushed by Treasurer Eric Roozendaal for the severity of the Budget cuts.
In attempting to answer his critics today, the Premier said voters would have to wait until an election in March 2011 to cast their judgment on the mini-budget.
"The mini-budget is a difficult one, but it's one that if we didn't make these decisions now we are virtually guaranteeing an extended recession," Mr Rees told ABC Radio today.
"I guess one of the reasons the governments in the past haven't made the tough decisions is because they get these sorts of reactions, but my job is not to be popular.
"My job is to to do what I believe is right for the state and I accept flak for those decisions - I'm ultimately accountable for them."
Mr Rees said while the state would face short term losses, there would be longer term gains.
"We need to be prudent, we need to make sure we're tightening our belts - fairly and equitably - so this mini-budget sets us up for the future," he said.
Mr Rees shrugged off criticism about the dumping of key rail and road upgrades, saying he would still be rolling out a record infrastructure program.
"The assertion that we're not spending is simply wrong," he said.
"We're spending in excess of $50 billion in infrastructure over the next four years ... the largest infrastructure program of any state government in Australian history.
"So the money is being spent, but it's being spent in a responsible fashion - not being spent in a manner that is beyond our means."
