POLITICS is a fickle business. Last week, Barry O’Farrell was NSW Premier and Paul Toole was a first-term MP with ambitions for a ministry position one day.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Today, fresh-faced Mike Baird is NSW Premier and Mr Toole has the high-profile – but tricky – portfolio of local government.
Who’d have thought?
It’s been a whirlwind rise for former school teacher and local mayor Mr Toole, who was elected as the Member for Bathurst in March 2011 in the landslide that took government from Labor. It followed a chaotic term in which Morris Iemma, Nathan Rees and Kristina Keneally all held the top job.
Mr Toole, who is now 43, served on the former Evans Shire Council from 1995-2004 before being a member of Bathurst Regional Council from 2005-2012.
He had been touted by National Party leader Andrew Stoner as someone with the potential to go places in politics, but not even Mr Toole’s most ardent supporters could have predicted such a meteoric rise.
So now comes the tough part.
As a low-profile part of the NSW Government, Mr Toole has had time to find his feet in Macquarie Street and work on fulfilling his election commitments without too many distractions.
Now Mr Toole has stepped into the spotlight, and he will be scrutinised like never before.
The NSW Government has made it clear it favours reform in the state’s local councils, and that could include a reduction in the number of councils. Arguments are looming.
Bathurst’s new minister should also remember that a week – even a day – is a long time in politics.
NSW’s newly demoted ministers can vouch for that.
