Member for Cootamundra Katrina Hodgkinson was ousted as Parliamentary Secretary after she crossed the floor to vote against the greyhound racing ban bill.
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Unlike most people who find themselves shunted from a position, the MP was notified ironically via press release.
The headline read; ‘Renewed focus on Northern and Southern NSW’.
Mike Baird seems to have taken a personal offence over Ms Hodgkinson representing her constituents and voting against what has become a bit of a personal project of the Premier’s.
If there were issues of Ms Hodgkinson bringing her position into disrepute or doing a poor job, then I could understand her being dumped.
This has not been the case and it appears as though her removal from the position is purely a consequence of Ms Hodgkinson doing the job the Cootamundra electorate voted her in to do.
The question that comes to mind is, what sort of message does that send?
Ms Hodgkinson is a member of the NSW Nationals and I would have thought a Liberal Premier may have shown a bit more respect for her position.
Supposedly, Nationals in a Coalition government are voted in as Nationals first, Coalition second.
They are voted in by the public who want a Nationals representative.
Effectively Mr Baird is saying do not represent your electorate, tow the government line.
Has he influenced future voting by scaring others from crossing the floor, thus interfering with the democratic process?
Ms Hodgkinson was not even notified in person, but found out via a press release, which shows a distinct lack of character and respect from the Premier.
These parties are supposed to be forming a government to work together and produce the best possible outcomes for the NSW people.
Ms Hodgkinson’s party leader, Deputy Premier and Minister for Racing Troy Grant praised her for voting with her conscience. For Mr Baird to then turn around and dump Ms Hodgkinson does not reflect well upon his Deputy Premier.
Whichever way I look at it, it seems an abuse of power and a total lack of respect for not only Ms Hodgkinson and the NSW National Party, but also the Cootamundra electorate.