Mike Baird | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Baird in 2016 | |
| 44thPremier of New South Wales | |
| In office 17 April 2014 – 23 January 2017 | |
| Monarch | Elizabeth II |
| Governor | Marie Bashir David Hurley |
| Deputy | Andrew Stoner Troy Grant John Barilaro |
| Preceded by | Barry O'Farrell |
| Succeeded by | Gladys Berejiklian |
| 20thLeader of the New South Wales Liberal Party | |
| In office 17 April 2014 – 23 January 2017 | |
| Deputy | Gladys Berejiklian |
| Preceded by | Barry O'Farrell |
| Succeeded by | Gladys Berejiklian |
| Minister for Infrastructure | |
| In office 23 April 2014 – 2 April 2015 | |
| Preceded by | Brad Hazzard |
| Succeeded by | Andrew Constance |
| Minister for Western Sydney | |
| In office 23 April 2014 – 23 January 2017 | |
| Preceded by | Barry O'Farrell |
| Succeeded by | Stuart Ayres |
| Treasurer of New South Wales | |
| In office 3 April 2011 – 23 April 2014 | |
| Premier | Barry O'Farrell |
| Preceded by | Eric Roozendaal |
| Succeeded by | Andrew Constance |
| Member of theNew South Wales Parliament forManly | |
| In office 24 March 2007 – 23 January 2017 | |
| Preceded by | David Barr |
| Succeeded by | James Griffin |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Michael Bruce Baird (1968-04-01)1 April 1968 (age 57) Melbourne, Victoria, Australia |
| Party | Liberal |
| Spouse | Kerryn Baird |
| Relations | Bruce Baird (father) Julia Baird (sister) |
| Children | 3 |
| Education | The King's School, Parramatta University of Sydney Regent College |
| Occupation | Chief Executive Officer of McKinnon Institute Politician |
| [1][2] | |
Michael Bruce Baird (born 1 April 1968)[3] is an Australian investment banker and former politician who was the 44thPremier of New South Wales, the Minister for Infrastructure, theMinister for Western Sydney, and theLeader of the New South Wales Liberal Party from April 2014 to January 2017.
Baird represented theelectoral district of Manly in theNew South Wales Legislative Assembly for theLiberal Party from2007 to 2017. Before becoming Premier, he was theTreasurer of New South Wales in theO'Farrellgovernment between 2011 and 2014. On 19 January 2017, Baird announced his intention to step down and on 23 January he resigned as Premier and member for Manly.
Born in Melbourne, Baird is the son of Judy andBruce Baird.[2] His father was Deputy Leader of the New South Wales Liberal Party and Member of Parliament representing theelectoral district of Northcott, and later a Member of theAustralian House of Representatives, representing theDivision of Cook, for the Liberal Party. He attendedThe King's School, Parramatta,[4] and spent time living in the U.S. while his father served as head of the Australian trade commission inNew York City.[5][6] Baird graduated with aBachelor of Arts with majors in Economics and Government from theUniversity of Sydney in 1989.[7][8] Baird also studied atRegent College inVancouver, British Columbia, Canada, initially intending to enter theAnglican ministry, but while there decided to pursue a career in investment banking and later politics.[4]
In 1999, Baird unsuccessfully sought preselection for the seat of Manly. Baird then returned to investment banking, working for theNational Australia Bank for a time inLondon, before returning to Sydney to work forHSBC Australia.[9] He again sought, this time successfully, Liberal Party preselection for the seat of Manly and went on to defeat the sitting independent memberDavid Barr by 3.4% at the2007 state election.[10] After initially serving in a range of junior shadow ministries, Baird was promoted to the position of Shadow Treasurer in 2008 and touted as a future Liberal leader.[9][11]
Following the election of the O'Farrell government in 2011, Baird was appointed Treasurer, although O'Farrell removed some of Baird's ministerial responsibilities, transferring the authority for land tax, gaming tax, payroll tax, public service superannuation and the Office of State Revenue toGreg Pearce, the Minister for Finance and Services.[12] Baird has campaigned against dangerous drinking, voted against embryonic stem research and euthanasia, does not support same-sex marriage or same-sex adoption[13][5] and has stated that his strongest preference is not to support abortion in most circumstances.[14] He is strongly in favour ofAustralia becoming a republic.[15] In 2015, he supported calls for increasing theGST to 15%.[16][17]
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Following Barry O'Farrell's resignation,[18] Baird was elected unopposed as parliamentary leader of the NSW division of the Liberal Party on 17 April 2014, and subsequently sworn in as the 44th Premier of New South Wales on 23 April by theGovernor of New South Wales,Dame Marie Bashir.[19] Just six days later, on April 29, Baird presided over the sale of the Port of Newcastle, with 50% ownership going to the China state owned China Merchants Group.[20] According to the Port Authority, the Port is "Australia’s deepwater global gateway" which " enables Australian businesses to successfully compete in international markets".[21]
He also immediately reshuffled the ministry elevatingAndrew Constance into theTreasury portfolio and increasingAndrew Stoner's ministries to five[22] in preparation for the2015 state election.[23][22] In October, Stoner resigned as Leader of the NSW Nationals andDeputy Premier of New South Wales and was replaced byTroy Grant. TheSydney Morning Herald described Baird's government as "the most devout in living memory," with a concentration of powerful religious figures in its upper echelons.[13] Baird's chief of staff, Bay Warburton, once said that in his role as chief of staff he is serving Jesus, "and Mike (Baird), who's the Treasurer—he believes he's serving Jesus as the Treasurer of the state. He believes that he has a great opportunity to help people by making responsible decisions about the money from this state."[13]
On the morning of 15 December 2014, a lone gunman,Man Haron Monis,held hostage ten customers and eight employees of aLindt chocolate café located atMartin Place, Sydney. Baird addressed the media during the stand-off, and stated "we are being tested today... in Sydney. The police are being tested, the public is being tested, but whatever the test we will face it head on and we will remain a strong democratic, civil society. I have full confidence in thePolice Commissioner and the incredible work of theNSW police force."[24] On 20 March 2015, Baird met with staff at the re-opened café, stating the staff and company: "...Are saying that they want to be strong for their friends, they want to be strong for this city and state".[25] Baird suffered frompost-traumatic stress following the attack.[26]
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At the 2015 election, Baird led the Liberal-National Coalition to a second term. The main policy that dominated the election was Baird's unpopular policy to lease 49% of the state's electricity distribution network, known as the "poles and wires" in the form of a 99-year lease to the private sector and use the proceeds to invest in new road, public transport, water, health and education infrastructure.[27][28] Other regional policies centred around the Baird Government's truncation of theCentral Coast & Newcastle Railway Line atWickham and its replacement with the $130 millionlight rail system and associatedtransport interchange as part of a broader revitalisation of theNewcastle city centre.[29]Coal Seam Gas was a likewise major regional issue in northern New South Wales.[30]
Ultimately, Baird won a full term, though he lost 15 seats from the massive majority he'd inherited from O'Farrell. Baird is only the fourth state Liberal leader, after SirRobert Askin,Nick Greiner and O'Farrell, to win an election in New South Wales since the main non-Labor party adopted theLiberal banner in 1945. It also marked the first time since1973 that a non-Labor government had retained its majority at an election and Baird became the first non-elected Liberal Premier to be elected in his own right.
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After replacing Barry O'Farrell as Premier in April 2014, Baird initially fared well in statewide opinion polls but his approval rating collapsed in the 2nd half of 2016. From December 2015 to September 2016, Baird's satisfaction rating fell by 46 points—"the biggest fall in net satisfaction of any mainland state premier in the history of Newspoll".[31]
| Satisfied | Dissatisfied | |
|---|---|---|
| September 2016 | 39% | 46% |
| September 2015 | 63% | 23% |
| March 2015 | 57% | 29% |
| February 2015 | 59% | 26% |
| December 2014 | 60% | 22% |
| October 2014 | 56% | 20% |
| August 2014 | 49% | 23% |
| June 2014 | 49% | 19% |
Baird had publicly advocated for the toughSydney lockout laws[33] and on 9 February 2016 posted aFacebook response to an article published byMatt Barrie condemning the Premier's actions.[34] Baird's response gained international attention[35] after the post received over 10,000 likes - along with more than 10,000 comments that were mostly critical of the Premier's stance on the laws.[36] Baird's reputation as a "darling of social media"[37] was tarnished as the hashtag #casinomike became the number one trending topic nationwide onTwitter in reference to lockout laws not applying toStar City Casino, as it is located outside the entertainment and CBD precincts where the laws apply.[38] A protest was organised in response to Baird's comments by community group Keep Sydney Open on 21 February 2016,[39] with over 15,000 people marching in Sydney's CBD and calling on the Baird government to abolish the lockout laws.[40]
In December 2015, the Baird government announced a plan to cut the number of councils in New South Wales from 152 to 112, including the number of Sydney councils from 43 to 25 and the number of regional councils from 109 to 87. This resulted in a delay of local government elections from September 2016 to March 2017.[41] On 12 May 2016, 19 council mergers took place.[42]
In May 2015, in response to aFour Corners exposé on the industry, Baird announced an inquiry into the greyhound racing industry.[43] In July 2016, he announced the government's intention to ban the use ofgreyhound dogs forracing purposes.[43] This decision was reversed in October 2016.[43]
On 19 January 2017, Baird announced he was retiring from politics, with his resignation to be effective after aleadership spill the following week.[44] He said, "I have made clear from the beginning that I was in politics to make a difference, and then move on. After 10 years in public life, this moment for me has arrived."[45][46] Following his decision to resign, he was criticised for his failure to listen on key issues such as protests against theWestConnex, lockout laws andlocal government amalgamations. Baird also reversed an earlier decision to ban greyhound racing in the face of significant community pressure, especially from the Nationals.[47] On 23 January 2017, he formally resigned as both premier and member for Manly, andGladys Berejiklian was sworn in as New South Wales' 45th premier.[48]
In February 2017, Baird was appointed Chief Customer Officer atNational Australia Bank.[49] He was paid a total of A$2.29 million in 2018.[citation needed] In 2019, NAB executives forfeited their short-term bonuses, resulting in Baird earning the lesser total of A$1.7 million for that year.[citation needed] At the end of the 2018/2019 financial year, Baird held A$500,000 of NAB stock as well as 67,888 NAB performance rights, worth A$1.59 million as of March 2020.[50] In March 2020, it was reported that he would leave the company on 15 April 2020.[51] In April 2020, Baird was appointed Chief Executive Officer ofHammondCare, aChristian aged care provider of palliative and dementia care.[52][53][54]
In October 2021, Baird gave evidence to theIndependent Commission Against Corruption regardingGladys Berejiklian's relationship with disgraced Liberal MPDaryl Maguire. After leaving the ICAC, Baird stated he was "devastated" to have to give evidence about Berejiklian, who he described as a "close personal friend".[55]
In December 2024, Baird announced that he would be moving toMelbourne for work commitments, having joined the McKinnon Institute as its CEO and Chair in August that year.[56]
In 2020, Baird joined the board ofCricket Australia. He was elevated to Cricket Australia chair in February 2023.[57]
Baird lives inFairlight in Sydney’s northern beaches[58] and is married to wife Kerryn. Together they have three children; Laura, Cate and Luke.[59] His mother, Judy, who died in 2021 was in full-time care at the time of his appointment.[60] His sister is journalistJulia Baird, presenter of ABC'sThe Drum TV program and a bestselling author.[61] His younger brother, Steve Baird, is the CEO ofInternational Justice Mission Australia.[54] Baird is a long time friend of formerAustralian prime ministerTony Abbott and they regularly surf together off theNorthern Beaches.[62][63] Baird is a supporter ofNRL club theManly Warringah Sea Eagles.[citation needed]
In 2016, Sydney DJTom Budin released a song named "Mike Baird", which mocked and protested against theSydney lockout laws, which were introduced in February 2014, two months before Baird became thePremier of New South Wales.[64]
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Politics portalMike BAIRD (BA '89).
Melbourne-born, Baird attended the King's School, Parramatta before undertaking his Sydney Arts degree with majors in Economics and Government.
| New South Wales Legislative Assembly | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Member for Manly 2007–2017 | Succeeded by |
| Political offices | ||
| Preceded by | Treasurer of New South Wales 2011–2014 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded byas Minister for Planning and Infrastructure | Minister for Infrastructure 2014–2015 | Succeeded byasMinister for Transport and Infrastructure |
| Preceded by | Premier of New South Wales 2014–2017 | Succeeded by |
| Minister for Western Sydney 2014–2017 | Succeeded by | |
| Party political offices | ||
| Preceded by | Leader of the New South Wales Liberal Party 2014–2017 | Succeeded by |
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