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As it happened: Gladys Berejiklian resigns as NSW Premier; ICAC announces investigation

Nick Ralston and Sarah McPhee
Updated ,first published

Key Posts

NSW Liberals owe ‘debt of gratitude’ to Berejiklian, party president says
Morrison says NSW Premier showed ‘heroic qualities’
Berejiklian resigns as NSW Premier
Berejiklian to make ‘significant announcement’ at 1pm
The ICAC announces it is investigating the Premier
Pinned post from 1.03pm on Oct 1, 2021
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Berejiklian resigns as NSW Premier

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Gladys Berejiklian has announced she will quit as NSW Premier after the Independent Commission Against Corruption announced she was being investigated by the corruption watchdog.

Ms Berejiklian says she will also leave Parliament as soon as a byelection can be held.

Gladys Berejiklian has resigned as NSW Premier.Dominic Lorrimer

“Resigning at this time is against every instinct in my being ... I love my job and serving the community but I have been given no option following the statement.

“I’m extremely confident that whoever succeeds me will be more than capable to continue the job.

“Please give them your trust and confidence. We will come through this. Stronger, more resilient and appreciating what really matters in life. I felt strong, energised and optimistic about the future of NSW.”

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The day in review

By Sarah McPhee

Thank you for reading our live coverage of the day’s events. Here’s what you need to know:

NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian announces her resignation on Friday. Dominic Lorrimer
  • “I cannot predict how long it will take the ICAC [Independent Commission Against Corruption] to complete this investigation, let alone deliver a report, in circumstances where I was first called to give evidence at a public hearing nearly 12 months ago,” Ms Berejiklian said. “Therefore, it pains me to announce that I have no option but to resign the office of Premier. My resignation will take effect as soon as the NSW Liberal Party can elect a new parliamentary leader.”
  • The 51-year-old will also resign from Parliament, triggering a byelection in the lower north shore seat of Willoughby, which she has held since 2003.
The contenders: Dominic Perrottet, Andrew Constance, Stuart Ayres and Andrew ConstanceComposite

NSW frontbencher honours Berejiklian’s ‘stoicism’

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NSW frontbencher Natalie Ward has added to the Liberal Party voices acknowledging Gladys Berejiklian’s leadership tenure, saying she has always admired the Premier’s work ethic, stoicism and grace.

The state’s Sports Minister said she was “deeply saddened” by the events that had transpired today.

NSW Minister for Sport Natalie Ward and NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian in June.Twitter - @natwardmlc

“Gladys Berejiklian has served NSW as an exceptional leader, showing strength, determination and courage under incredibly challenging circumstances,” Ms Ward said.

She also touched on the situation that prompted the resignation, being the Independent Commission Against Corruption inquiry into Ms Berejiklian’s past conduct, announced earlier today and to be held from October 18.

Gladys Berejiklian’s political career in pictures

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Gladys Berejiklian was aged in her 20s when she served as Young Liberals president in 1996-97.

She has previously reflected on the time as being a period of maturity and when she gained courage.

Ms Berejiklian was elected as the member for Willoughby in March 2003, a seat previously held by her early mentor, former NSW Liberal leader Peter Collins.

A gallery of her political career, captured by Herald photographers over almost two decades to today, can be viewed here.

Gladys Berejiklian and Mike Baird in 2010. Mr Baird served as NSW Premier from 2014 to 2017.Marco Del Grande
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‘A person I am proud to have served’: NSW minister Matt Kean

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NSW Environment Minister Matt Kean, who was in tears during Gladys Berejiklian’s resignation announcement, says it as an “incredibly sad day” for the state.

In her 4½ years as NSW Premier, Ms Berejiklian has led with dignity, determination and poise, he said in a statement this afternoon – one of the lengthier tributes to the leader on Friday.

NSW Environment and Energy Minister Matt Kean, at a press conference with Gladys Berejiklian last week. Edwina Pickles

“NSW is a better place because of Gladys Berejiklian. Today, women in this state are able to decide what happens with their bodies because of Gladys Berejiklian,” Mr Kean said.

“Today, our citizens can spend more time with their friends and families because of Gladys Berejiklian – the Opal card, the metros, the highways are her achievements.

Gladys Berejiklian’s ‘pointed’ final message

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Gladys Berejiklian’s final message as Premier of NSW could not have been more pointed, writes Herald state political editor Alexandra Smith.

As she announced the end to her leadership and long parliamentary career, Berejiklian bemoaned that her demise was completely beyond her control. It went “against every instinct” she had in her.

Gladys Berejiklian prepares to announce her resignation.Dominic Lorrimer

Rather, it was the Independent Commission Against Corruption that made a calculated decision that would end her 18-year parliamentary career.

“ICAC has chosen to take this action during the most challenging weeks of the most challenging times in the history of NSW,” Ms Berejiklian read from a prepared statement. “That is the ICAC’s prerogative.”

You can read more of the analysis here.

New premier expected to be announced on Tuesday

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A new premier will be decided at a Liberal party room meeting on Tuesday after Gladys Berejiklian sensationally resigned on Friday amid revelations she is now the subject of a corruption inquiry.

Liberal party heavyweights will spend the weekend working the phones as the process to replace Ms Berejiklian begins, with a new leader expected to be announced on Tuesday.

While the new premier will be confirmed at the party room meeting, a consensus candidate could be finalised before that.

State political reporter Tom Rabe has prepared a rundown of what happens next, including a byelection in Ms Berejiklian’s seat of Willoughby, available here.

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Federal Labor seeks national anti-corruption body, Plibersek thanks Berejiklian for ‘hard work managing COVID’

By Angus Thompson and Sarah McPhee

Federal Opposition Leader Anthony Albanese says outgoing NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian “has made the right decision ... on a difficult day” while calling upon Prime Minister Scott Morrison to establish a national anti-corruption body.

The Labor leader criticised Mr Morrison for announcing a cabinet reshuffle, provoked by the resignation of former Attorney-General and Minister for Industry Christian Porter, minutes before Ms Berejiklian announced her resignation due to an anti-corruption investigation.

“Mr Morrison refuses to apply the same set of integrity that Gladys Berejiklian applied to herself,” Mr Albanese told media in Sydney today.

“Today, it is now more than 1000 days since Scott Morrison promised to have a national anti-corruption body.

“Well, tick-tock Mr Morrison, we need a national anti-corruption commission, one with teeth, one that operates independently of government and is able to conduct its own inquiries.

NSW Liberals owe ‘debt of gratitude’ to Berejiklian, party president says

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President of the NSW Liberal Party, Philip Ruddock, has thanked Gladys Berejiklian for her 18½ years of service since she was first elected to the seat of Willoughby, on Sydney’s lower north shore.

Cr Ruddock, who is also the Hornsby mayor, noted Ms Berejiklian had been a member of the party for decades, since her youth, and served as Young Liberal President for a term in 1996-97.

NSW Liberal Party president Philip Ruddock.Mick Tsikas

“Her incredible story, from her humble migrant beginnings to rising to the highest office in the state, through incredible hard work and dedication has inspired countless others,” he said in a statement today.

“She has faithfully represented the people of Willoughby since March 2003, and had served our state as the minister for transport, minister for industrial relations and treasurer, before she was elected in January 2017 as the leader of the parliamentary Liberal Party and sworn in as the Premier.

Berejiklian an ‘outstanding Premier’: Stokes

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Planning Minister Rob Stokes, one of the favourites to replace Gladys Berejiklian as leader of the NSW Liberal Party, has echoed an earlier message from Deputy Premier John Barilaro, describing her as having been at the helm on “some of our darkest days”.

Mr Stokes said Ms Berejiklian had been an “outstanding Premier of NSW”.

“She led our state through some of the most challenging times in our history and was the person we looked to for guidance during some of our darkest days,” he said on social media this afternoon.

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The events that led to Gladys Berejiklian’s resignation

By Daniella White

In her speech earlier this afternoon, Gladys Berejiklian said she had “been the subject of numerous attacks” by political opponents over the past 12 months.

Her relationship with Daryl Maguire was a tightly held secret until she appeared before an Independent Commission Against Corruption inquiry in October 2020 and revealed she had been in a “close personal relationship” with him for a number of years.

Daryl Maguire and Gladys Berejiklian, who has announced she will stand down as NSW Premier.Rhett Wymann, Brook Mitchell

The inquiry was set up to investigate Mr Maguire, who allegedly used his position in Parliament to further his business dealings.

It heard taped phone calls between the pair during their five-year secret relationship, with the inquiry told it began in 2014 or 2015 and continued even after Ms Berejiklian had asked for Mr Maguire’s resignation in 2018.

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