Lockdown emails from Gladys Berejiklian’s resignation day revealed

Internal government emails reveal intense discussions about snap lockdown decisions on the day Gladys Berejiklian quit.

Internal emails reveal the flurry of action inside the NSW government as officials prepared to lock down a town on the day Gladys Berejiklian quit.

An email from an official at the Department of Premier and Cabinet to NSW Health has been made public for the first time.

The email makes reference to the intense workload and an upcoming announcement regarding a lockdown in the Northern Rivers town of Casino.

“There is obviously a huge amount going on for us today in terms of having to prepare for the swearing in of a new ministry, but we'll keep this ticking along as best we can,” the official wrote.

Ms Berejiklian announced her shock resignation at 1pm on Friday, October 1, an hour after a corruption watchdog revealed it was investigating her conduct in office.

Former NSW premier Gladys Berejiklian announced she would resign on October 1. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Jeremy Piper

She criticised the Independent Commission Against Corruption in her resignation speech for making its announcement during the Covid crisis.

“My resignation as premier could not happen at a worse time, but the timing is completely outside of my control,” Ms Berejiklian said.

“The (Independent Commission Against Corruption) has chosen to take this action during the most challenging weeks of the most challenging times in the history of NSW.”

While the shock of her resignation reverberated on Sydney’s Macquarie Street, NSW Health officials were preparing to issue stay-at-home orders for more than 10,000 people living in Casino, where a new coronavirus case had been discovered.

The NSW Health official who responded to the email made reference to deliberations by Chief Health Officer Kerry Chant and Health Minister Brad Hazzard.

“There is a recommendation to day to apply stay-at-home orders to Casino,” they wrote.

“This hasn't even been reviewed by Kerry or the Minister yet, so it might not go ahead – but in the spirit of advanced notice.”

The northern NSW town of Casino was locked down in October after a coronavirus case was discovered there. Picture: NCA Newswire / Gaye Gerard

The DPC official responded at 3.48pm: “ What time are the restrictions to commence? If you could please let me know once the recommendation has formally gone from NSW Health to Minister I'll hit send on the instructions to the (parliamentary counsel’s office).”

The email was contained in a trove of NSW Health documents released to the parliament after an order by Labor MPs.

The documents included emails revealing Dr Chant recommended making lockdown rules across Sydney “consistent” weeks before the government took action to do so.

They also included an email that showed a regional NSW Health official warned colleagues Sydney should be shut down days before it happened.

The Casino lockdown was announced shortly before 5pm to be enforced at midnight.

The stay-at-home orders were scheduled to last until October 11, the same day other locked-down areas were set free.

Originally published as Lockdown emails from Gladys Berejiklian’s resignation day revealed