A Call for Change
In a valedictory speech delivered on Tuesday, former NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet declared that vaccine mandates implemented during the COVID-19 pandemic were a mistake. While acknowledging the good intentions behind the mandates, Perrottet argued that they infringed upon personal freedom and should have been implemented differently.
"If the impact of vaccines on transmission was limited at best, as is now mostly accepted, the law should have left more room for respect of freedom," Perrottet stated. "Vaccines saved lives, but ultimately, mandates were wrong. People's personal choices shouldn't have cost them their jobs."
Perrottet, who will be leaving parliament for a private sector job in the US, also used his speech to call for changes to Australia's federation system. He criticized the current system as ineffective and argued for a more streamlined approach.
"If we established Australia today, no one in their right mind would set up the Federation the way it is," he said. "We currently have federal and state health systems that don't even work alongside each other. Rather, they actively work against each other."
Perrottet proposed several reforms, including moving the federal government to four-year terms, harmonizing state and territory elections, and redrawing the division of responsibilities between federal and state governments.
The former premier's speech was delivered to a packed public gallery, including prominent political figures such as former Prime Minister Paul Keating, former federal minister Graham Richardson, and former premier Mike Baird. Perrottet acknowledged the influence of both Keating and his political rival John Howard on his own political journey.
"Former prime minister John Howard was a constant source of wisdom," he said. "[Paul Keating] once said to me, 'Dom, I had to teach my bastards to care about money, and you need to teach your bastards to care about people'."
Perrottet's last day in parliament will be Friday. He will then relocate his family to Washington DC, where he will take on the role of BHP's US head of corporate and external affairs.