After years of bushfires and Covid-19 outbreaks, this Christmas will be very different for Gladys Berejiklian
Ex-premier Gladys Berejiklian has revealed how she will spend time with family and friends this Christmas.
Former premier Gladys Berejiklian is looking forward to spending time with family in a low key Christmas after two stressful years running NSW, battling Covid outbreaks and major weather disasters.
The ex-New South Wales premier revealed she would be having more of a low-key Christmas and will be spending her time with family after a tumultuous few years.
She is looking forward to having a “much less public life” and would be resigning as an MP on December 30.
“I’m looking forward to the new year and getting on with life,” she told 2GB’s Ben Fordham.
“I look forward to having a bit of a break ... this has been a good time to reconnect with some friends I haven’t spent enough time with but more importantly my family.
“My parents and sisters have been amazing, but obviously I’m looking forward to spending more time with extended family and all of my friends as well.”
The Armenian-born premier was elected unopposed in 2017 when Mike Baird resigned, before making history by becoming the state’s first female premier to win a general election in 2019.
The last years of Ms Berejiklian’s term forced her to show resilience in the face of major crises.
Over Christmas 2019 she spent most of her time on the road, showing her face in towns that had been ravaged by a devastating bushfire season where 25 people lost their lives.
She made a point of visiting towns every day, standing next to fire chief Shane Fitzsimmons and supporting him while the state burned in intense heat for months.
Ms Berejiklian earned praise for stoically fronting media conferences and visiting affected communities, personally taking the time to talk to residents who lost their homes and belongings.
The hot conditions were felt by farmers battling one of the worst droughts in years, with Ms Berejiklian’s government responding by rolling out drought assistance for farmers.
Following a Christmas spent with little-to-no family time, the former premier declared a state of emergency in January 2020 - the first in seven years.
The heat subsided and while government officials thought they could rest, a different type of disaster swept through Australia.
The country was first exposed to Covid-19 on January 25, 2020, when a Victorian man returned from Wuhan in China and tested positive to the virus.
Ms Berejiklian was praised for her early management of the health crisis, with Prime Minister Scott Morrison calling her the “gold standard” for tackling the pandemic.
Even the Ruby Princess debacle where more than 700 people caught the virus, resulting in 28 tragic deaths and a Special Commission report of NSW Health, Ms Berejiklian was still praised.
While NSW was thought to be in the clear with Covid, a cluster breaking out on Sydney’s Northern Beaches meant the former premier once again would not be spending Christmas with family.
The state was almost two weeks in the clear with no more cases of Covid-19, until three were confirmed on December 16 last year, with two on the northern beaches and no source.
A positive result came from a man who drove international flight crews to and from Sydney Airport and hours later there were two new cases.
Within a week, thousands on the northern beaches would be locked down for two weeks over Christmas.
Ms Berejiklian fronted the media most days over the period, missing celebrations with her own family and isolating to ensure NSW residents were kept up to date on the emerging situation.
From January NSW endured a mostly Covid-free six months until a limo driver in Bondi contracted the Delta variant and the virus quickly spread, forcing Greater Sydney, and later NSW, into a four-month lockdown.
The second outbreak proved to be more unpredictable to manage.
It was during this time that Ms Berejiklian’s messages began to crumble, when the former premier refused to send Bondi into a snap-lockdown with many epidemiologists revealing it to be the cause of the large outbreak.
Despite facing the state day-after-day, the former premier announced her resignation just weeks before NSW was set to escape from the lockdown.
Ms Berejiklian revealed she had no intention of quitting as premier and a state MP on October 1, but was forced to step aside due to an ICAC investigation into her relationship with former Liberal MP Daryl Maguire.
ICAC’s Operation Keppen was inquiring whether the former Wagga member engaged in conduct that involved a breach of public trust, with the information becoming public about the pair’s relationship in September 2020.
A year later, ICAC announced the second investigation into Ms Berejiklian.
Since her resignation, rumours have been swirling about what she would be doing next, but the former premier addressed the rumours on December 10, announcing that she would be leaving politics.
“I won’t be contesting the federal seat of Warringah or any other seat for that matter,” she told 2GB.
“I’m going in a different direction.”
“Then I’ll be a private citizen, but until then I’ll be addressing local issues and tidying up and saying my goodbyes locally after nearly 19 years,” Ms Berejiklian said.
“My time in public life will be coming to an end.”
She is positive about the next chapter in her life and says she is looking forward to a life in the private sector.Ms Berejiklian thanked the public for their “lovely messages” and assured them she was ok.
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