It\u2019s easy to see the sudden rush to female leaders of Liberal parties around Australia as a desperation strategy \u2013 a kind of \u201clet\u2019s try this, at least we will look different\u201d.<\/p>\n
Kellie Sloane\u2019s stewardship of the Liberals in New South Wales<\/a> will need to be much more than better presentation \u2013 because there is much more at stake.<\/p>\n If the Liberal party<\/a> cannot sell itself to NSW and to an aspirational capitalist city like Sydney, then its future is grim indeed.<\/p>\n From day one Sloane will be navigating a particularly treacherous internal political landscape within her own party and with junior Coalition partner the NSW Nationals, while dealing with some of the biggest policy challenges of our time: climate change, a housing crisis, conserving our environment and the pressures of a growing mega city.<\/p>\n The responsibility on her shoulders is arguably greater than other state Liberal leaders because the NSW Liberals still claim to be a broad church in the tradition of Robert Menzies.<\/p>\n The claim to that mantle is shaky.<\/p>\n The NSW party membership is below 10,000 <\/a>and its members are ageing, meaning the party risks being out of step with real Australia. Every political party also needs a strong membership to win: to fundraise, to staff booths and fuel ideas.<\/p>\n Sloane\u2019s first challenge is to distinguish the NSW Liberal brand from that of her Canberra colleagues, whose self-immolation has now reached farcical levels.<\/p>\n The departing leader Mark Speakman made no bones about the cost, pointing out that he had been within a few percentage points of the Minns Labor government until the Liberals\u2019 thumping federal election loss in May and the protracted period of public brawling over climate change policy that has followed.<\/p>\n In contrast, the NSW Liberals confirmed their commitment to net zero by 2050 this week and Sloane also confirmed that the interim targets \u2013 including a 70% reduction in greenhouse gases from 2005 levels by 2035 \u2013 are also still in place.<\/p>\n In an interview with Guardian Australia, Sloane attempted to play down the division, saying: \u201cIt wouldn\u2019t be the first time, you know, a state party had a difference with their federal colleagues over a policy position.\u201d<\/p>\n But climate change policy is a big one. What the federal government does directly impacts on state plans.<\/p>\n Sloane also insists the NSW Liberals remain committed to renewables rollout, augmented by gas, and to the phase-out of coal-fired power in NSW.<\/p>\n \u201cThe facts are that our coal-fired stations aren\u2019t going to last beyond 2033. Eraring [power station] has been extended, and it may well need to be extended further,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n \u201cBut that doesn\u2019t mean that we\u2019re not focused on the practical considerations that are causing a lot of concern on the ground right now. We need to be absolutely focused on people\u2019s concerns about energy bills, around the transition when it comes to renewables, with the rollout of renewables in regional communities in particular.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s creating a situation of haves and have nots in a lot of communities and our Nationals colleagues, our Liberal colleagues in regional NSW are seeing that first-hand, seeing the pain in their communities.\u201d<\/p>\n Perhaps Sloane can find a policy formula to both meet the targets and make the rollout more palatable to rural communities, without actually slowing it down, scaring away investment or pissing off her Nationals partners. Easier said than done.<\/p>\n With Sydney house prices predicted to continue to rise, boosting housing supply is the top priority for both sides of politics in NSW.<\/p>\n But how and where? On this there are significant differences between the major parties.<\/p>\n Labor has spelled out its priorities: medium density and high rise around train stations, as quickly as possible.<\/p>\n Housing around Sydney Harbour in the city\u2019s affluent inner suburbs. Photograph: Bloomberg\/Getty Images<\/p>\n This will see much greater development in Liberal heartland suburbs that have resisted it for decades, like the north shore, the northern beaches and parts of the eastern suburbs.<\/p>\n Sloane got off to a shaky start on her commitment to increasing housing supply when in June she told a community forum<\/a> that she opposed medium density at Rose Bay in her electorate of Vaucluse, arguing it could not be considered a town centre because it didn\u2019t have \u201ca decent supermarket\u201d.<\/p>\n