Mike Baird has done a Steve Bracks, Malcolm Turnbull has lost a crucial ally and the Australian political landscape will be much poorer for the shock departure of the New South Wales premier.

Baird joins the most exclusive club of Australian leaders: those who jump before their colleagues or the voters decide their time is up. The surprise is that he has done it so soon.

His reasons are compelling, but the result is to reduce the talent pool in state politics generally, the loss of a moderate voice when the middle ground is under assault from the right, and the injection of another dose of uncertainty into a political system that has overdosed on instability for far too long.