Don’t forget the good deeds of Mike Baird | Editorial

Much has been made of Baird’s sweeping, and often controversial, reforms. The lockout laws, forced council amalgamations, the ban and subsequent back flip on greyhound racing.

But let’s not forget the good he’s done. Look at medical cannabis, an issue very close to the heart of Tamworth. 

When Mike Baird backed the legalisation of medical cannabis, it started a chain reaction and a wave of support that now has the nation on the verge of legally growing and prescribing medical cannabis.

We often see politicians championing a particular cause for political reasons – they think it will play well with one voter group or another. But that wasn’t case for Baird and medical cannabis. In fact he took a risk supporting it. It was untested waters.

He was the first major Australian politician to actively advocate for it – even preceding Health Ministers at both a state and federal level.

While there is still work to do on the medical cannabis front, we wouldn’t be where we are without Mike Baird’s compassionate decision to back a worthwhile cause.

His contribution to the state goes beyond his time as Premier. In 2011, he became the state’s Treasurer, a prestigious but often thankless job. 

Many have credited Mike Baird’s reign as Treasurer/Premier as a turning point in the state’s economy – we have record level building approvals, the fastest economic growth rate in the country and the lowest unemployment rate.

And there are the numbers to back it up.

Since 2011, economic growth has almost doubled, sitting at 3.5 per cent. The unemployment rate has dropped, while there are about 320,000 extra jobs.

The budget went from a deficit of $4.4 billion to a surplus of $7.4 billion, with zero net debt. Our AAA credit rating was in danger in 2011, but by 2014 it had stabilised under Baird’s watch. Infrastructure spending has more than doubled from $6.1 billion to $12.9 billion and there have been meaningful increases in the numbers of nurses, police officers and teachers. Housing approvals have doubled – everything is on the rise.

While Mike Baird didn’t do this all on his own, none of it happened by accident.