Mike Baird

Born in Melbourne, Baird is the son of Judy and Bruce Baird.[2] His father was Deputy Leader of the New South Wales Liberal Party and Member of Parliament representing the electoral district of Northcott, and later a Member of the Australian House of Representatives, representing the Division of Cook, for the Liberal Party.

Baird attended The King's School, Parramatta,[4] and spent time living in the U.S. while his father served as head of the Australian trade commission in New York City.[5][6] Baird graduated with a Bachelor of Arts with majors in Economics and Government from the University of Sydney in 1989.[7][8] Baird also studied at Regent College in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, initially intending to enter the Anglican ministry, but while there decided to pursue a career in investment banking and later politics.[4]

Baird in 2014

In 1999, Baird unsuccessfully sought preselection for the seat of Manly. Baird then returned to investment banking, working for the National Australia Bank for a time in London, before returning to Sydney to work for HSBC Australia.[9]

Baird again sought, this time successfully, Liberal Party preselection for the seat of Manly and went on to defeat the sitting independent member David Barr by 3.4% at the 2007 state election.[10] After initially serving in a range of junior shadow ministries, Baird was promoted to the position of Shadow Treasurer in 2008 and touted as a future Liberal leader.[9][11]

Following the election of the O'Farrell government in 2011, Baird was appointed Treasurer, although O'Farrell removed some of Baird's ministerial responsibilities, transferring the authority for land tax, gaming tax, payroll tax, public service superannuation and the Office of State Revenue to Greg Pearce, the Minister for Finance and Services.[12]

Baird has campaigned against dangerous drinking, voted against embryonic stem research and euthanasia, does not support same-sex marriage or same-sex adoption[13][5] and has stated that his strongest preference is not to support abortion in most circumstances.[14] He is strongly in favour of Australia becoming a republic.[15]

In 2015, Baird supported calls for increasing the GST to 15%.[16][17]

Prime Minister Modi of India meeting with Mike Baird in Sydney 16 Nov 2014

Following Barry O'Farrell's resignation,[18] Baird was elected unopposed as parliamentary leader of the NSW division of the Liberal Party on 17 April 2014, and subsequently sworn in as the 44th Premier of New South Wales on 23 April by the Governor of New South Wales, Dame Marie Bashir.[19]

Just six days later, on April 29, Baird presided over the sale of the Port of Newcastle, with 50% ownership going to the China state owned China Merchants Group.[20] According to the Port Authority, the Port is "Australia’s deepwater global gateway" which " enables Australian businesses to successfully compete in international markets".[21]

Baird also immediately reshuffled the ministry elevating Andrew Constance into the Treasury portfolio and increasing Andrew Stoner's ministries to five[22] in preparation for the 2015 state election.[23][22] In October, Stoner resigned as Leader of the NSW Nationals and Deputy Premier of New South Wales and was replaced by Troy Grant.

The Sydney Morning Herald described Baird's government as "the most devout in living memory," with a concentration of powerful religious figures in its upper echelons.[13] Baird's chief of staff, Bay Warburton, once said that in his role as chief of staff he is serving Jesus, "and Mike (Baird), who's the Treasurer—he believes he's serving Jesus as the Treasurer of the state. He believes that he has a great opportunity to help people by making responsible decisions about the money from this state."[13]

On the morning of 15 December 2014, a lone gunman, Man Haron Monis, held hostage ten customers and eight employees of a Lindt chocolate café located at Martin Place, Sydney. Baird addressed the media during the stand-off, and stated "we are being tested today... in Sydney. The police are being tested, the public is being tested, but whatever the test we will face it head on and we will remain a strong democratic, civil society. I have full confidence in the Police Commissioner and the incredible work of the NSW police force."[24] On 20 March 2015, Baird met with staff at the re-opened café, stating the staff and company: "...Are saying that they want to be strong for their friends, they want to be strong for this city and state".[25]

Baird at the official reopening of the Lindt Café, Martin Place, Sydney, March 2015.

Approval rating

Baird greeting the public, May 2015

After replacing Barry O'Farrell as Premier in April 2014, Baird initially fared well in statewide opinion polls but his approval rating collapsed in the 2nd half of 2016. From December 2015 to September 2016, Baird's satisfaction rating fell by 46 points—"the biggest fall in net satisfaction of any mainland state premier in the history of Newspoll".[30]

Newspoll
Satisfaction Rating of Mike Baird[31]

	Satisfied	Dissatisfied
September 2016	39%	46%
September 2015	63%	23%
March 2015	57%	29%
February 2015	59%	26%
December 2014	60%	22%
October 2014	56%	20%
August 2014	49%	23%
June 2014	49%	19%

Lockout laws

Baird in 2015

Baird had publicly advocated for the tough Sydney lockout laws[32] and on 9 February 2016 posted a Facebook response to an article published by Matt Barrie condemning the Premier's actions.[33] Baird's response gained international attention[34] after the post received over 10,000 likes - along with more than 10,000 comments that were mostly critical of the Premier's stance on the laws.[35] Baird's reputation as a "darling of social media"[36] was tarnished as the hashtag #casinomike became the number one trending topic nationwide on Twitter in reference to lockout laws not applying to Star City Casino, as it is located outside the entertainment and cbd precincts where the laws apply.[37] A protest was organised in response to Baird's comments by community group Keep Sydney Open on 21 February 2016,[38] with over 15,000 people marching in Sydney's CBD and calling on the Baird government to abolish the lockout laws.[39]

In February 2017, Baird was appointed Chief Customer Officer at National Australia Bank.[45] Baird was paid a total of A$2.29 million in 2018. In 2019, NAB executives forfeited their short-term bonuses, resulting in Baird earning the lesser total of A$1.7 million for that year. At the end of the 2018/2019 financial year, Baird held A$500,000 of NAB stock as well as 67,888 NAB performance rights, worth A$1.59 million as of March 2020.[46] In March 2020, it was reported that Baird would leave the company on 15 April 2020.[47]

In April 2020, Baird was appointed Chief Executive Officer of HammondCare, a Christian aged care provider of palliative and dementia care.[48][49][50]

In October 2021, Baird gave evidence to the Independent Commission Against Corruption regarding Gladys Berejiklian's relationship with disgraced Liberal MP Daryl Maguire. After leaving the ICAC, Baird stated he was "devastated" to have to give evidence about Berejiklian, who he described as a "close personal friend".[51]

Baird lives in Fairlight in northern Sydney[52] and is married to wife Kerryn. Together they have three children; Laura, Cate and Luke.[53] His mother, Judy, who died in 2021 was in full-time care at the time of his appointment.[54]

His sister is journalist Julia Baird, presenter of ABC's The Drum TV program and a bestselling author.[55] His younger brother, Steve Baird, is the CEO of International Justice Mission Australia.[50]

Baird is a long time friend of former Australian prime minister Tony Abbott and they regularly surf together off the Northern Beaches.

Baird is a supporter of NRL club the Manly Warringah Sea Eagles.

In 2016, Sydney DJ Tom Budin released a song named "Mike Baird", which mocked and protested against the Sydney lockout laws, which were introduced in February 2014, two months before Baird became the Premier of New South Wales.[56]

• Baird ministry
• O'Farrell ministry
• Shadow Ministry of Barry O'Farrell