This is kind of a tricky one to navigate. Because on the one hand whilst we do not condone bullying on either a professional or personal level, the other hand is finding it very hard to react to this in any other way but to state “diddums.”
Mike Baird, benevolent leader of New South Wales state politics and man behind some of the most wildly un-popular social policy making the state has seen in quite some time, is fully aware of all the nasty things you’ve all been saying about him in recent months.
The NSW Premier appeared on 2UE earlier this morning to discuss a raft of subjects, from his widely praised state-wide ban on greyhound racing, to the sweeping alcohol lockout laws he imposed on Sydney’s entertainment precincts.
Hosts John Stanely and Garry Linnell also broached the subject of the litany of nicknames Baird has accumulated since taking office in April of 2014. Most notably, the outrageously catchy epithet ‘Casino Mike.’
And wouldn’t ya bloody well know it? He doesn’t like it. He does not like being called that at all.
Offering a very diplomatic rebuke of the slurs, one that *barely* hid his clear discomfort, Baird attempted to shrug off the question by suggesting that the names were merely a result of him doing what was “right.”
“I’m not going to pretend it doesn’t (hurt), I’m human and anyone who says it doesn’t have any impact is not telling truth, but that doesn’t stop your resolve to continue what’s right.”
“There’s quite a list (of names) and I think it’s just a reality of political life. Just because people give you those labels doesn’t make it true.”
You’re right, Mike. The label doesn’t make it true. Introducing sweeping lockout laws for a geographical area that *VERY CURIOUSLY* includes exceptions for casino precincts, on the other hand…
Well, it’s just that when you roll up a pair of ones you’ve got no other choice but to call it snake eyes, ya feel?
Photo: Mark Sullivan/Getty.
