Gerard Henderson was furious that its “perceptions of corruption have led to the resignation of three of the best premiers NSW has ever had” (along with fellow Liberals Nick Greiner and Barry O’Farrell). The up-yours commentariat in the Murdoch stable immediately blamed ICAC. This is to say nothing about the outpouring of what seemed to be genuine grief from thousands of NSW constituents. The Australian’s Tom Dusevic suggested that the pending end to NSW’s lockdown was “a testament to Berejiklian’s diligence and grit”, forgetting that it was her delay that sent the state into its protracted lockdown in the first place.
Even NSW Labor leader Chris Minns said he “never doubted Gladys’ dedication to NSW”. From across the party divide, Victorian Premier Dan Andrews described her as “a person of integrity”. Her eventual successor, Dominic Perrottet, said she’d “worked tirelessly before and through the pandemic to protect the people of NSW from COVID-19”. “New South Wales has lost a great premier,” said former prime minister Malcolm Turnbull, “one of our very best.” Scott Morrison said she “displayed heroic qualities”, that he knows “how much she is trusted and respected by the people of NSW”. Not that you’d know it from the general reaction to her resignation. In short, since at least October last year, Berejiklian has had the stench of corruption about her. And on October 1 this year, ICAC announced that as part of its ongoing investigation into Maguire’s dealings, it would be questioning Berejiklian over grants she’d approved to community organisations in Wagga Wagga (in Maguire’s electorate), and why on earth she didn’t report him. (Those bungles recall her government’s earlier decision to allow passengers to disembark the Ruby Princess.) At the time Berejiklian resigned, the NSW auditor-general was investigating a $40 billion rail corporation into which Berejiklian – as transport minister – had shifted billions of dollars of assets, despite being warned years ago that doing so would “most likely” create safety risks for commuters.
GLADYS BEREJIKLIAN SERIES
In June and July this year, she and her government had made a series of decisions that unleashed the Delta variant of COVID-19, not just in NSW but also in Victoria, Queensland and the ACT. Last November, Berejiklian failed to self-isolate after being tested for COVID-19. Berejiklian personally approved dozens of the grants in a secret process, and then staff in her office destroyed the notes of her approvals in breach of the State Records Act. At the same time, she also relaxed the guidelines for the Stronger Communities Fund, which meant that 95 per cent of its grants were pork-barrelled into councils in Coalition-held or marginal electorates during the lead-up to the 2019 state election. In June 2018, Berejiklian had moved the Greater Sydney Commission out of the planning department and into her own portfolio, against the advice of department heads, at a time when Maguire was lobbying the Commission to release land for development (and complaining about it to Berejiklian). It had been almost exactly a year since she’d infamously appeared before an Independent Commission Against Corruption inquiry and admitted she’d been in a “close personal relationship” with corrupt former backbencher Daryl Maguire until some time in 2020. When Gladys Berejiklian resigned as NSW premier on October 1, the story should have been that she’d done so in disgrace. What explains the hero-worship of the former NSW premier?
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