Did Matt Kean’s Tesla diplomacy really work on Perrottet? We’re about to find out

Dominic Perrottet may turn out to be the first premier of NSW to own a Tesla. He is almost certainly the first to have driven one. And it might just be a sign that the man taking the reins of Australia’s biggest and most coal dependent economy, is starting to come round on climate change.

In a recent interview on our EV-focused The Driven podcast, NSW energy minister Matt Kean was waxing lyrical about the Tesla Model 3 he bought last year – which he reckons is the best car he has ever driven – and he mentioned that Perrottet also lived in the Hornsby LGA, and because of that he was one of the few fellow ministers he could regularly see in the current Covid lockdown.

“We’ve been catching up, doing a bit of walking and whatnot, and he actually asked if he could have a drive (of the Tesla) the other day. And I’m not going to get him in trouble, but it’s fair to say that he enjoyed the very fast experience,” Kean told the podcast. “And he says to me, ‘I’d love to get one of these things’. So I’m doing a bit of environmental or EV diplomacy with my colleagues at the moment. And hopefully they can see that (EVs) are fun vehicles, they’re cost effective and they’re a great product.”

It remains to be seen whether the 39-year-old Perrottet gets to buy a Tesla, either for personal use or for work. But given that he has just been anointed premier, and the Premier’s vehicle is probably already decided for him, and he’s in the middle of a pandemic, there will be other priorities. And, to be honest, you can’t fit a family of his size in a Tesla Model 3, and the new and bigger Model Y crossover SUV is not coming as a seven-seater, at least not initially.

But the fact that Kean – who features prominently in the reported cross-faction deal that propelled Perrottet to the leadership on Tuesday – has gotten Perrottet interested in Tesla EVs in the first place is no mean feat. Everyone will be hoping that it points to a broader awakening.

Several years ago, the signs were not so good that Perrottet understood the threat of climate change or the opportunities available from tackling it. Addressing the conservative think tank, the Centre for Independent Studies, Perrottet railed against investments in renewables, and  climate policies in general.

“An example of gratuitous waste is the almost religious devotion of the political left to climate change,” said Perrottet, who knows a thing or two about religion devotion, having grown up as a devout Catholic – one of 13 children and now father of six – and educated at an Opus Dei sponsored college. He then went on to to sing from the fossil fuel lobby songbook, about Australia’s share of global emissions and how nothing it could do would change much.

Now he finds himself leading a state that has just announced what could easily be described – with the exception of the ACT – as the country’s most ambitious climate policy. NSW, which had been slow to adopt renewables and move away from coal, has set a new, improved target of a 50 per cent cut in emissions by 2030, as it seeks to replace its ageing and increasingly decrepit coal generators with renewables and storage. And Kean has made it clear that if all the coal generators in the state need to go by 2030, then they can and they will.

Kean managed to convince Treasurer Perrottet to commit $380 million towards the creation of the renewable energy zones that will be crucial to navigating that clean energy transition, which promises to be as quick and dramatic as any other state in Australia, or even in the world. “The Roadmap is expected to attract $32 billion of investment over the next decade and create thousands of jobs,” Perrottet enthused at the time.

Kean also managed to convince Perrottet not to follow in the footsteps of Victoria and immediately impose an EV road tax, and opting instead to delay it until EVs are well established in the market. The pair, along with transport minister Andrew Constance, instead ushered in what is undoubtedly the most generous EV support mechanisms of any state – a $490 million package that includes $3,000 rebates, a stamp duty exemption, and funding for a comprehensive EV charging network. “From young adults saving for their first car in Western Sydney to retirees planning a road trip to Broken Hill, these incentives will make electric vehicles accessible and affordable for all NSW residents,” Perrottet said.

Kean is clearly a very persuasive man, because he also succeeded in convincing Nationals leader John Barilaro of the benefits of the clean energy switch, and the opportunities in regional Australia that will come from being a renewable superpower. These are big ideas that have proven well beyond Barilaro’s federal colleagues.

But there are two big questions for voters and investors as Perrottet takes the reins at state parliament.

The first is over the change in cast. All the key players who put together those announcements are now out the door, or redeployed. Berejiklian is gone, and Barilaro is also quitting politics. Constance, also behind the rapid electrification of Sydney’s bus fleet, is trying his luck at a federal seat, while Kean looks likely to be shifted to the state Treasury when Perrottet gets the top job.

So who replaces Kean as energy minister? And will Kean as Treasurer be as engaged on climate and the clean energy transition as he is now? And will Perrottet, once anointed, turn out to be nothing more than an obliging Covid-buddy for Kean, or has he really changed his spots? Everything else about Perrottet – from his views on abortion, support for Donald Trump, for nuclear energy, and letting it rip on Covid, points to him being a key player on the far right of Coalition politics.

If Perrottet were to honour those recent commitments – on climate, emissions, renewables and EVs – that would be a first from the far right in Australia. And as head of the country’s biggest state economy, and with the biggest coal fleet in town, that would be a game-changer in Australian politics. It’s one thing for a moderate like Kean to shine the light on the clean energy future, quite another for a happy clappy conservative. It may come down whether Perrottet ultimately loves Tesla because he thinks it would be a fun toy, or because it points to a prosperous and righteous fossil free future.

Note: In his first press conference, Perrottet had this to say on the state’s climate policies:

“The great thing about this government when it comes to meeting our net zero target is that we are completely on track without any policy change at all. Comments I have made in the past had been in respect of my, obviously, fiscal conservatism in making sure that when government invest money, they invest an impact and make a difference in people’s lives.”

This article also appeared on Inside Story. It has been updated since conformation that Perrottet won the Liberal Party ballot to become leaders and premier.