Embarrassment is surely punishment enough for Gladys Berejiklian

Gladys Berejiklian with Daryl Maguire. ‘When you sign on as premier you lose the right to look the other way’.

Gladys Berejiklian appeared to be the last on the list of politicians likely to lose their jobs over a sex scandal. She was the bastion of solid, Christian living. The terrible embarrassment she has felt over recent weeks is etched into her face. When Neville Wran talked about “the blowtorch being applied to the belly” this is exactly the sort of situation he had in mind. Only the truly tough can survive this kind of front-page ­justice. We have seen ICAC ­destroy the reputations of the innocent over the years. What’s more we have sat idly by as injustice became the order of the day.

Obviously the Premier is entitled to have a relationship with whomever she chooses, but anyone holding that position knows that any relationship they might have will be the subject of considerable scrutiny.

When you take the oath at Government House to faithfully serve the people of NSW, you sign away your right to privacy. The intense scrutiny will remain with you for as long as you hold the position and some time beyond as well. If you choose to commit a sin, you pay a heavy price.

Love and attraction are too often blind to character. The Premier actually said she didn’t want to know about the business dealings of Daryl Maguire, her ex, but that doesn’t really help. Surely she had a duty to be concerned that his business dealings were above board. When you sign on as premier you lose the right to look the other way. You must be proactive in taking every step to satisfy yourself that there is no time bomb ticking away somewhere in your lover’s life. Time bombs have a habit of blowing up in your face.

The television news programs have been showing vox pops of ­locals in Berejiklian’s Sydney seat of Willoughby expressing strong support for her but no Liberal heavyweights have yet emerged from their bunkers to throw their weight behind her.

Bill Clinton left office with the highest ratings of his career despite the Monica Lewinsky affair. There was no evidence that this ­affair in any way impaired his ­capacity to do his job and the same conclusion can be applied in Berejiklian’s case. Why can’t we all say that she has suffered enough and just let go?

Meanwhile, in Queensland, Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk appears to be in no danger. She will win a third term and considering the Nationals’ incredibly long reign under Joh Bjelke-Petersen, that is quite an achievement. What you see is what you get with Palaszczuk — a bright lady who can talk confidently to a pensioner or a board chairman.

She is a really nice person and it shows. She enjoys stopping and talking to Queenslanders as I have seen her do while walking on The Strand in Townsville. If the punters feel that you are one of them, you will lose very few elections.

Campaigning in Queensland is not easy. It has more sizeable metropolitan centres than any other state in the commonwealth. Being seen to have spent enough time in the Gold Coast, Toowoomba, Sunshine Coast, Rockhampton, Mackay and Gladstone means a gruelling campaign is even tougher than it looks.

There is an art to turning up exhausted and sleep-deprived at a function and appearing sociable and witty. It is at this point that you start forgetting names and everyone goes by the name of “mate”. My former colleague Doug McClelland, a former Senate president and Whitlam minister, was the best meeter and greeter I have ever witnessed. He had a way of making complete strangers feel completely comfortable within minutes of meeting him.

In his early days this was a forte of Bob Hawke’s as well. Gough Whitlam was regarded as a deity more than Hawke. Perhaps his height and his haughtiness had something to do with it. While loved, even adored, Whitlam was just that bit aloof, which meant the mob could never feel they owned him in the same way as they felt about Hawke.

From the first time my father told me to watch out for Hawke, I was ready to meet a great man. My father recognised it early but eventually everyone knew it. Hawke was born to lead. He could never be a second-in-command. Hawke’s arrival on the scene meant that Bill Hayden’s demise as numero uno was imminent.

Hawke became leader just as Malcolm Fraser called on the ­governor-general to set a date for an election. The manoeuvre was designed to stop Labor electing Hawke as leader. This failed gambit had huge consequences for all concerned.

Fraser had the quivering lip as he conceded defeat. Hawke’s appearance at the tally room to claim victory produced scenes of great joy and celebrations. No one, on either side of politics, had any doubt that this was the beginning of a long-term government, something the Labor Party had coveted but not previously delivered.

Unsurprisingly to those who knew him, Hawke did not charge into the lolly shop like a wounded bull. Gareth Evans had been working on a plan for transition to government and Hawke followed that plan all the way.

Hawke’s greatness was already being contemplated.