Building a road is not like buying a handbag,' Duncan Gay reportedly tells female MP
The New South Wales premier, Mike Baird, has defended the roads minister, Duncan Gay, after he allegedly told a female Liberal MP that “building a road is not like buying a handbag”.
“It is clear that it was a poor choice of words,” Baird said on Wednesday, adding that he had spoken to Gay about it.
“There is no intent in what the minister said, and from my point of view he is an outstanding minister.”
Gay made the comments to Miranda MP Eleni Petinos while she was lobbying for a motorway in Sydney’s south, according to the Nine Network.
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The issue reportedly came to light when Petinos, 29, challenged her fellow Coalition MP over the remarks during a party room meeting on Tuesday, it said.
While spruiking the government’s education spending at a post-budget press conference in Sydney on Wednesday, Baird said he understood how people could take offence at the comments.
“[They’re] certainly not words that I would use but let’s be clear: there’s no intent from Duncan,” Baird said.
However, he declined to answer questions about whether the roads minister should apologise.
The treasurer, Gladys Berejiklian, defended the NSW Liberal party’s treatment of women.
“My personal experience as a member of a party has been, always receiving the utmost respect from all of my colleagues,” she said at the joint conference with the premier.
“From time to time we might have differences about what we believe on an issue and they’re always resolved amicably.”
Comment is being sought from Gay.