NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet has made a surprising admission about his use of a controversial controlled substance.
Mr Perrottet was quizzed on Friday on FM radio about his plans to make it harder for people to get their hands on nicotine vapes in Sydney.
In response to questions from Dave Hughes on 2Day FM’s Hughesy, Ed & Erin, he pointed out nicotine vapes were legal as long as the user had a prescription – and then, perhaps surprisingly, outed himself as a user, with a preference for ‘mixed fruit’ flavour.
Mr Perrottet admitted to having “the occasional” vape after trying to quit cigarettes. But he said the addictive nature of nicotine vapes meant restrictions were necessary.
In Australia, it has been illegal to import nicotine vapes, otherwise known as e-cigarettes, without a medical practitioner’s prescription since October 2021.
“For many people, we know that vaping is taking people off of cigarettes, so it’s a positive thing. But that’s why you’ve got to have a prescription for a vape here in NSW,” Mr Perrottet said.
“We want to make sure we’re not actually encouraging younger people to get into vaping or smoking as well.
“It’s a balance, and we’ve got to get it right.”
Friday’s vaping tidbit about the Liberal premier comes as the Coalition reportedly faces an uphill battle to win March 25 state election.
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Perrottet announces crackdown on rental bidding wars
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Hard road ahead for Perrottet
If the Coalition wins later this month, it will be the first time in 50 years it has won a fourth consecutive term in government in NSW.
The latest Resolve Political Monitor, published in The Sydney Morning Herald on Wednesday, showed Labor’s primary vote at 38 per cent and the Coalition on 32 per cent.
However, Mr Perrottet (38 per cent) remained preferred premier over Labor leader Chris Minns (34 per cent).
About a quarter of voters were still undecided about their party preferences, with less than four weeks until they have to hit the polls.
Mr Perrottet has faced a bruising few weeks with the resignation of his Finance Minister Damien Tudehope over a shareholding scandal, and the suspension of fellow Liberal member Peter Poulos after it was revealed he had circulated explicit photographs of a female parliamentary colleague during a past preselection battle.
With the Coalition’s hold over its last mainland state on the line, Mr Perrottet has his work cut out for him in enticing voters in coming weeks.
“Ultimately we’ve got to have high standards in the parliament,” he said in February.
“We need to have the best practices in place and people would expect politicians particularly to lead the way in setting standards.”
