‘Something else on’: Berejiklian a no-show as former premiers celebrate metro

Former Coalition premiers Dominic Perrottet and Mike Baird joined Labor’s Chris Minns on Saturday to bathe in the success of Sydney’s metro, as the history-making $21.6 billion railway celebrated its 1 millionth passenger trip.

But after seven years of construction and a year of testing, the question on everyone’s lips on the line’s debut weekend was: “Where’s Gladys?”

Premier Minns said Gladys Berejiklian, premier between Baird and Perrottet, had been invited to Saturday’s official opening but had “something else on”, adding she would no doubt be enjoying the service in coming days.

From left: Former Coalition premiers Dominic Perrottet and Mike Baird, with Premier Chris Minns and Transport Minister Jo Haylen at Barangaroo metro station on Saturday. Credit: Dean Sewell

As transport minister, treasurer and premier, Berejiklian has been credited with prosecuting the idea of the metro project, a network of 46 stations and 113 kilometres of new rail revolutionising Sydney commutes.

A further south-west extension to the mega metro city link which opened on Monday is still under construction and two other lines – to the second Sydney airport and Westmead – are planned.

Berejiklian had offered her congratulations to those who helped deliver the new M1 extension of Sydney’s metro network, from Chatswood to Sydenham via the CBD, on the first day of services.

“A huge congratulations to the literally thousands of workers involved who helped deliver this important project,” she told the Herald on Monday.

Metro patronage passed 1 million passenger rides on the Tallawong to Sydenham link within its first five days of operation.

It peaked on Friday night when 64,000 people rode the metro after 5pm, the highest figure for the evening period across the week. The biggest commuter days were Wednesday and Thursday.

Minns said his 18-month-old government could claim little overall credit for the line’s success but would see the project through.

The premier’s 16-year-old son joined the crowds who tried out the service on Saturday.

Although her absence was notable, Baird and Perrottet came to the event in Berejiklian’s stead. Baird paid tribute to the workers who worked underground on the project and for whom it was a career-defining moment.

He could not help but refer to the 2015 election contest, in which the vision of the metro project formed part of a bruising political contest.

“It’s captured the imaginations of people in this city and made it come alive as commuters have jumped on this world-leading piece of infrastructure,” he said.

Still a novelty, the split between those trying the metro out of curiosity and regular commuters is not yet known, but the public response had exceeded all expectations, said Sydney Metro chief executive Peter Regan.

The mega project is about $10 billion over budget and the final piece – a 13-kilometre stretch from Sydenham to Bankstown in the city’s south-west – will be at least a year late in its opening.

But there were no complaints from the former Liberal Party leaders, who defended the spending.

“These are projects that are challenging and complex but ultimately you can make the mistake of doing nothing or you can make tough decisions and transform the state,” Perrottet said.

“The Harbour Bridge was over budget, the Opera House was over budget.”

Had Berejiklian attended the official opening on Saturday, she may have faced questions about her recent loss in the NSW Court of Appeal. Last month, the former premier failed in a court bid to overturn damning findings made against her by the state’s corruption watchdog.

The Independent Commission Against Corruption found Berejiklian engaged in serious corrupt conduct between 2016 and 2018 by participating in decisions to make multimillion-dollar government grants to two projects in the then-Wagga Wagga Liberal MP Daryl Maguire’s electorate, without disclosing the pair were in a close personal relationship.

At the time, Berejiklian was treasurer and later premier. The ICAC found the relationship continued until September 2020.

In a statement after her court loss, Berejiklian defended her conduct and said that “serving the people of NSW was an honour and privilege which I never took for granted”.

“I always worked my hardest to look after the welfare and interests of the people of NSW.”

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