Despite the NSW coalition government likely being pushed further into minority government, the premier says he won't be doing deals.
After the weekend's 'super Saturday' of four by-elections in NSW, Labor appears to have secured a surprise extra seat in the parliament's lower house. The results wont' be finalised for weeks but it looks like Labor has retained the Sydney seat of Strathfield and won the South Coast seat of Bega from the Liberals - pushing the coalition government further into minority.
Premier Dominic Perrottet says he isn't fazed by the prospect and won't be doing deals with the independents and minor party MPs.
""For the last three years we have been in a minority government situation," he told Sydney radio 2GB.
"I'm not interested in doing deals, I'm interested in working through issues and working with the crossbench where there are legitimate areas of policy that we can work with them on we will.
"But we're certainly not going to be doing any deals - we haven't been doing that."
The official results will be delayed until March 11 because more than 38 per cent of voters in Bega, Monaro, Strathfield and Willoughby cast their vote before Saturday's ballots, either via post or through pre-polls.
However, Labor's candidate, obstetrician Michael Holland is predicted to claim Bega, following the departure of Liberal Andrew Constance who held the seat since 2003.
It will be the first time Labor has held the seat, which party leader Chris Minns previously said would be "almost impossible" to win.
By-elections are notoriously hard for governments but Mr Perrottet says he's heard the message from voters. The government has retreated from a view that the by-elections were a referendum on its response to the pandemic and the Omicron outbreak, pointing to local issues in the individual electorates.
Mr Perrottet said "many of those local communities have felt abandoned" in Bega after the devastating bushfires of 2019-20. "I think there's a lot more work we need to do there," he said.
NSW Treasurer Matt Kean told ABC Radio National the by-elections were not "a referendum on the government". "These were four by-elections, which had unique issues in each of the seats," he said.
However, the government will have to listen and respond effectively to "the message about how the government is travelling", Mr Kean said.
The threat of independent candidates was another takeaway, given Larissa Penn's strong showing in Willoughby.
Despite a swing of around 18 per cent, Liberal Tim James is expected to retain former premier Gladys Berejiklian's Willoughby seat, leading Ms Penn by a more than 10 per cent margin after about 40 per cent of votes were counted.
Jason Yat-Sen Li is expected to retain former Labor leader Jodi McKay's Strathfield seat for the party, however Mr Perrottet said voters swung towards Liberal candidate Bridget Sakr and would elect her at the next state poll.
