Mike Baird may have become Australia’s most gymnastic premier, with a series of backflips and tumble-turns aimed at keeping the wheels on his cart.

First came the dogs.

“We got it wrong - I got it wrong, the Cabinet got it wrong, the Government got it wrong,” an uncharacteristically contrite Baird said on Monday.

NSW Cabinet ministers signed off on a plan to reverse the greyhound racing ban, opting instead for a new policy that will mean fewer races, fewer tracks, lifetime monitoring of greyhounds and other animal welfare measures.

When the ban was first announced, the Premier ardently stated that “any other measures are unlikely to protect animals from further cruelty”.

But just 3 months later, Mr Baird and Deputy Premier Troy Grant now say industry consultations have shown “a real appetite for reform”.

There is strong speculation that the change in policy was an attempt by Baird to stop a leadership spill by Nationals leader and Deputy Premier Troy Grant, which had allegedly been threatened in a partyroom meeting before the backflip.

Mike Baird then performed his second aerial manoeuvre in as many days, announcing a six-month trial of shark nets on NSW's north coast.

Baird had previously resisted calls to install nets - which can indiscriminately kill marine wildlife of a particular size - but could not stand up to the pressure after another attack on a now-notorious stretch of Ballina beach.

A fortnight ago, after an earlier attack on the same beachhead, the Premier announced the government would set up dozens of “smart” drumlines, which have sensors that alert authorities when a shark is caught on the attached hooks, and allows the animals to be relocated.

But now, Mr Baird says the affected communities want more sharks killed.

“Ultimately we get to the point where we have to prioritise human life over everything,” he told NSW Parliament.

“Certainly the sentiment in that local community has shifted. It was against nets, no doubt about it. The recent attacks have started to shift that.”

Now that Mr Baird’s stances are becoming fluid, various groups are pushing for other changes.

Chief among them is a call to scrap Sydney's lockout laws, and the Premier says it is something his government is considering.

“We've had [former Justice of the High Court of Australia] Ian Callinan look at it,” Mr Baird said.

“He's made some recommendations and there is two sides of the debate, we've listened comprehensively to those now in the next few weeks.

“Cabinet and the government and our party rooms will consider that,” he told 2GB radio.