It was not just greyhounds that snapped the leash of departing premier Mike Baird but they sure had plenty of pull.
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Greyhound Breeders Owners and Trainers Association chairman Geoff Rose said it was the combination of Mr Baird’s controversial policies which caused his premature retirement from politics on Thursday.
From forced council amalgamations to the privatisation of state assets, the outgoing state leader was under fire on all fronts.
But the final straw was his backflip on the NSW greyhound racing ban in October last year.
“It was not just the greyhounds but it was certainly the main force,” Mr Rose said.
The industry campaigner said greyhound connections around the state will be breathing a collective sigh of relief to see the back of the man who threatened their livelihoods. But he warned, the fight was not over as ban legislation had not been repealed.
“It takes the pressure off and I think the industry will be more calm,” he said. “But the threat [of closure] is still there and people are not going to forget quick.”
In a public statement, Mr Baird listed his state’s early uptake of the Gonski agreement, NDIS and more support for community services’ caseworkers as among his memorable achievements.
He said he was only ever in politics to “make a difference, then move on” and after 10 years in public office, that moment had arrived.
Rose said that day could not have come soon enough for his greyhound racing colleagues.
Tamworth MP Kevin Anderson was “quite shocked” by Mr Baird’s immediate retirement but understood the “family reasons” behind his decision.
With a new Liberal leader due next week and after the recent election of new Nationals leader John Barilaro, Mr Anderson said the state was in a good position to “rewrite the narrative for regional NSW”.
He would not be drawn on whether that meant an imminent halt for the proposed Shenhua-Watermark coal project near Breezan but said “protecting our water is paramount”.
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