Gladys Berejiklian opens up about move to private sector after four years as NSW premier

Gladys Berejiklian has opened up about her new job after quitting politics and dropped a big hint on her future career plans.

Former NSW premier Gladys Berejiklian has opened up about her move to the private sector and revealed she has no intention of going back into politics.

Ms Berejiklian resigned from her post in October last year after anti-corruption authorities announced she was being investigated over her secret relationship with an ex-MP.

While that investigation is ongoing, Ms Berejiklian’s time in parliament and her relationship with former Wagga Wagga MP Daryl Maguire are both over.

Gladys Berejiklian is an executive at Optus. Jane Dempster/The Australian

These days she’s an executive at telco giant Optus and dating one of the high-profile barristers who represented her before the Independent Commission Against Corruption.

Ms Berejiklian has said in a new interview she has no plans to run for office again.

“I think people appreciate that once you leave public life, my decision was to go back to the private sector and to work hard and that's what I’m looking forward to doing,” she told Sky News Australia.

“I can't speak for what other people decide, I can only speak for myself, and I’m really, really, looking forward to the next chapter of my life.

“And that's with Optus, with their amazing people, and really making a difference to the organisation, which is what I’ve always been about.”

The ICAC has not delivered any findings and Ms Berejiklian has steadfastly denied she did anything wrong.

The watchdog’s Operation Keppel is looking into allegations Ms Berejiklian breached the public’s trust in the course of her secret relationship with Mr Maguire.

Ms Berejiklian resigned as premier on October 1 last year. (Photo by Bianca De Marchi – Pool/Getty Images)

Mr Maguire initially caught the attention of anti-corruption officials conducting a separate investigation into a Sydney council, and they have asked prosecutors to look into whether he should be charged for giving false evidence to that inquiry.

The ICAC then began a separate investigation into his activities as an MP, and allegations he used his public office for personal gain, and discovered he was in a relationship with Ms Berejiklian that neither of them had disclosed.

The watchdog is probing whether Ms Berejiklian had a conflict of interest in handling money requests by Mr Maguire without disclosing they were a pair.

It recently revealed the tenure of the official overseeing that probe had been extended.

Assistant Commissioner Ruth McColl’s term was extended in July to go on until the end of October.

Ms McColl was brought in specifically to preside over Operation Keppel.

Ms Berejiklian, a Liberal, was premier for four years from 2017 and oversaw the state’s response to the first two years of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Her title at Optus is managing director of enterprise, business and institutional.