Berejiklian resignation is a loss for the state and nation

Gladys Berejiklian’s resignation as NSW premier is a big loss for her state and the nation given the leading role she has played as a steady hand in office and during the Covid-19 pandemic. But it should not be a surprise. Politics is a tough career, and confirmation that Ms Berejiklian was under investigation by corruption authorities sadly made her position impossible. Friday’s resignation is the unfortunate conclusion to events that started when Ms Berejiklian was confronted with telephone intercepts at hearings by the NSW Independent Commission Against Corruption involving her former, secret, boyfriend, disgraced MP Daryl Maguire.

Ms Berejiklian’s public shaming at the hands of a secretive authority – she is under investigation but has not been charged or found guilty of anything – is a complicated and human story. On one reading, she is a remarkable success story, a brilliant woman dedicated to public service who made an unfortunate choice of partner in her private life. Ms Berejiklian has been a trailblazer in politics in her state – strong, natural, authentic, and a role model for women. But her predicament is not about gender. Rather than scandal of her private life, the central questions posed by ICAC are ones of honesty and process.

As we editorialised at the time of the ICAC hearings into Mr Maguire in October last year, wilful blindness no doubt is a feature of many domestic arrangements but it has no place in public office. The extent to which Ms Berejiklian turned a blind eye to the nefarious activities of her former personal associate will determine her political fate, we said. Many have argued that an otherwise peerless performance as premier gives Ms Berejiklian added protection or benefit of any doubt. There is no question, a bemused and bewildered public believe her demise is unecessary. Others have felt her position untenable from the moment her bugged calls were aired in public and she was forced to answer embarrasing personal questions that seeped into her public roles.

By choosing to resign as premier and from parliament, Ms Berejiklian has held herself to a higher standard in the best interests of her party and the public. She could have chosen to stand aside pending the investigation, as colleagues would have been required to do in similar circumstances. Her leaving will avoid unnecessary distractions at a crucial time as the nation moves out of lockdown, restarts business and opens its borders.

Ms Berejiklian has been exemplary in her management of the pandemic despite incredibly difficult circumstances. Aside from the Ruby Princess fiasco at the start of the pandemic last year, Ms Berejiklian, more than other state leaders, has been able to bring a measured response to outbreaks, bravely favouring contact tracing and isolation over wide-scale lockdowns. Her approach allowed NSW to become the economic engine for the nation coming out of the first nationwide lockdown last year.

Contact tracing eventually was overwhelmed by the emergence of the Delta variant, forcing another lockdown. Rather than retreat into despair, again a brave Ms Berejiklian presented a credible, positive path back to normality and out of the crippling claws of Covid.

Ms Berejiklian’s position became untenable when ICAC issued a statement saying it would hold additional hearings as part of Operation Keppel that specifically will examine Ms Berejiklian’s conduct between 2012 and 2018. ICAC will investigate whether Ms Berejiklian engaged in conduct that constituted or involved a breach of public trust because of her relationship with Mr Maguire. The probe will centre on grants to the Australian Clay Target Association and the Riverina Conservatorium of Music in Wagga Wagga. ICAC also will investigate whether Ms Berejiklian had been dishonest by refusing to exercise her duty to report any matter that she suspected on reasonable grounds concerned or might concern corrupt conduct in relation to the conduct of Mr Maguire.

The investigation will be a further test of ICAC’s credibility. We have long held that the NSW body has exposed cases of corruption, but it also has exceeded its powers, left innocent people with shattered reputations and shown its own poor judgment by its misuse of publicity. Astonishingly, and many would argue outrageously, without even a hearing or conviction, Ms Berejiklian becomes the third NSW premier to lose their job because of ICAC. The first was Nick Greiner, who established ICAC, only to be forced from office for offering an independent MP a job outside of parliament. Mr Greiner subsequently was cleared of wrongdoing, with the Court of Appeal ruling that ICAC had exceeded its jurisdiction. Another Liberal premier, Barry O’Farrell, resigned in 2014 after failing to declare to ICAC the receipt of a bottle of wine. Despite the resignation, ICAC said there was no suggestion Mr O’Farrell had engaged in corrupt conduct and he subsequently was cleared of any wrongdoing.

The loss of Ms Berejiklian is a heavy blow. She has done a stunning job as a leader, making bold, nation-changing calls and unquestionably leaves office with the overwhelming support of the grateful citizens of NSW, steadfast in her claim that she has done nothing wrong.