The SMH argues that Gladys Berejiklian is a political realist and a pragmatist of the kind that Australian voters tend to prefer and the Liberal Party will succeed best with the broader public when it listens to its own moderate voices, not its extremists.
With her appointment as Premier, Gladys Berejiklian's steady rise through the Liberal Party has now reached its culmination.
As transport minister and then treasurer, Ms Berejiklian managed two difficult portfolios with aplomb and while doing so has remained a popular figure with the public.
Ms Berejiklian, who is from the Liberal left faction, has been astute in picking her running mate from the right, Dominic Perrottet. And the party has been wise in backing that choice. The choice avoids any factional squabbling and projects an image of managerial competence.
Labor is making an issue of Ms Berejiklian's role as a factional actor within her party. Labor prepares to capitalise on controversy surrounding Ms Berejiklian's links to Liberal left faction powerbroker and political lobbyist Michael Photios.
In the public's mind, she is clearly her own person. She is a political realist, a centrist, and a pragmatist of the kind that Australian voters tend to prefer.
Let us hope she continues that way. The Liberal Party will succeed best with the broader public when it listens to its own moderate voices, not its extremists.
