Perrottet confident despite costume shame
Several ministers are standing by NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet two months out from state elections after his revelation that he wore a Nazi uniform at his 21st birthday party.
NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet (AAP Image/Dean Lewins)
Already hobbled by the retirements of a dozen colleagues, the premier on Thursday disclosed his controversial costume choice amid rumours about the 2003 party.
“I’ve had a number of colleagues contact me … and I appreciate their support, but ultimately it’s not about me. It’s about the hurt and mistake that it caused many people across the state,” he told reporters on Friday, flanked by outgoing ministers Brad Hazzard and Victor Dominello.
“It’s not about politics. It’s about doing what’s right.
“I am focused now on really ensuring that people don’t make the same mistake that I did all these years ago.”
Asked if he was confident of leading the Liberals into the elections on March 25, Mr Perrottet answered with a terse “yes” several times.
He referred to the Coalition’s infrastructure track record over the last 12 years as instilling confidence in voters when heading to the polls.
Mr Perrottet’s confession was prompted by a cabinet colleague’s private warning on Tuesday.
Multiple media outlets have named Transport Minister David Elliott as that colleague.
He dismissed on Friday suggestions that Mr Elliott was threatening him with the revelation, saying he wouldn’t delve into “private discussions”.
Mr Perrottet also said he was not interested in commentary suggesting the gambling lobby was responsible for pushing Mr Elliott to divulge the subject of wearing a Nazi uniform two decades ago.
Mr Dominello, who once held the gaming portfolio, said the premier had owned and apologised for his mistake.
“Absolutely, I back him in every day of the week,” he said
Other senior coalition figures, including Nationals leader Paul Toole and potential leadership rival, moderate Liberal Matt Kean, have publicly backed Mr Perrottet.
“He will continue to be the premier, and I have no doubts that after March, we will win the election, and he will continue in that role,” Mr Toole said.
Shaking, red, and close to tears at points during his press conference on Thursday, the premier said he did not understand the gravity of what the Nazi uniform meant when he naively put it on, aged 21.
Asked where he saw the humour in wearing a Nazi uniform, he suggested all people matured differently based on their experiences.
“I am not the person I was when I was 21,” the 40-year-old said on Thursday.
“At that time, the pages of the history books had not had the impression on me that they should have.”
The incident came a year after Mr Perrottet joined the NSW Liberal Party and two years before he was appointed president of the NSW Young Liberals.
Melbourne University cultural historian Jordana Silverstein said the timing of the premier’s admission was about saving face, rather than genuinely accounting for his actions.
“It’s always been considered offensive, but it’s a matter of whose opinions have been listened to, and respected,” she told AAP.
“(Mr) Perrottet wearing the Nazi costume speaks to the normalisation of anti-Semitism and how acceptable it is amongst a certain segment of Australian society.”
The NSW Jewish Board of Deputies accepted a personal apology from the remorseful premier and said it hoped “this unfortunate incident will serve as a lesson to all”.
But former Labor premier Bob Carr said the 40-year-old Perrottet was now unelectable.
“Will Jewish leadership insist on his resignation? They should. The memory of six million demands it. He must go,” he said.
“If some kid in western Sydney who didn’t know better scrawled graffiti on a synagogue, they would be demanding prosecution under the new provisions of the crimes act.”
Mr Perrottet’s confession was prompted by a cabinet colleague’s private warning on Tuesday.
Seven News named Transport Minister David Elliott as that colleague.
“At that age in my life, I just did not understand the gravity of what that uniform meant,” Mr Perrottet said on Thursday.
“It was just a naive thing to do … I’m truly sorry for the hurt and the pain this will cause right across our state.”
Asked where he saw the humour in wearing a Nazi uniform, he suggested all people matured differently based on their experiences.
“I am not the person I was when I was 21,” the 40-year-old said.
“At that time, the pages of the history books had not had the impression on me that they should have.”
The incident came a year after Mr Perrottet joined the NSW Liberal Party and two years before he was appointed president of the NSW Young Liberals.
In the two decades since Mr Perrottet hired the Nazi costume and walked into his birthday party, attitudes have evolved, renowned Australian Jewish historian Suzanne Rutland said.
“There’s been a much greater sensitivity that is developed over the years to these types of issues,” she told AAP.
Dr Rutland noted it was only last year that the swastika was banned in NSW and Victoria.
“And yet there have been problems with the swastika for years – it didn’t get banned at that point in time,” she said.
The NSW Jewish Board of Deputies accepted a personal apology from the remorseful premier and said it hoped “this unfortunate incident will serve as a lesson to all”.
Followers of the Board of Deputies were divided about the significance of the incident.
While some said the public knew well in 2003 that dressing as a Nazi was offensive, others said young men like Mr Perrottet didn’t have the inherited experience and education about the Holocaust.
Polls for the state election open on March 18.
AAP
