Gladys Berejiklian’s bad romance spin ignores ICAC evidence
The tale of a good woman being done over by a big jerk is as old as time. But that’s just half the story and it’s pure spin to suggest the relationship didn’t also compromise the Premier professionally.
Opinion
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You are being spun.
The narrative that Premier Gladys Berejiklian has done nothing more than have the wool pulled over her eyes by a villain in her innocent quest to find love is a carefully crafted message by her apparatchiks trying to save her bacon.
Of course we should feel pity for Berejiklian. The tale of a good woman being done over by a big jerk is as old as time and she joins a long line.
But that’s just half the story and it’s pure spin to suggest the relationship didn’t also compromise the Premier professionally.
Those who are pushing the line that this is just about her “personal” life completely turn a blind eye to the detail of the evidence that has been presented to ICAC. Maguire repeatedly raised his business dealings with Berejiklian, including his attempts to cash in on Badgerys Creek.
Berejiklian says she wasn’t interested and the deals mostly didn’t pan out anyway.
But is that really a defence to a failure to act on what seemed to smell?
Her remarks to drum home her status as a female role model and the humanising press conference where she appealed for people to accept she was a real person who made mistakes in her personal life also appealed to voters’ sympathies.
And of course it is ok to make mistakes in your personal life.
But the mistake zone tilts into the professional when we’re talking about not intervening when her dodgy boyfriend talks up his cash making deals or not correcting her office when they wrongly think a business he’s plugging is in his electorate.
Berejiklian’s move yesterday to announce a massive easing of COVID restrictions in venues should also be met with cynicism.
It’s a good move for NSW, but privately Berejiklian has been deeply hesitant.
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Government rolled out the big announcement in a bid to change the headlines.
There’s no doubt Berejiklian has been an outstanding leader in the pandemic, but questions of how we deal with corruption are in a separate ledger.
The next time someone says to you “Gladys Berejiklian is entitled to a personal life”, agree with them enthusiastically — but then note that’s not the full story.