The Australian’s Australian of the Year: Nominee Gladys Berejiklian tackled adversities on her own terms

The NSW Premier forged her own path in a year that never played by the rules.

Gladys Berejiklian has taken an unorthodox approach. Picture: Jonathan Ng

Gladys Berejiklian has forged her own path in a year that never played by the rules.

The NSW Premier held the course through 2020, a year that threw a global pandemic, multiple local outbreaks and personal scandal at her.

With Ms Berejiklian at the helm, NSW navigated the challenges of the pandemic with finesse, avoiding the pitfalls of extended lockdowns, excessive hard borders and, until this month, mandatory mask orders.

She was placed in the unenviable position of battling a fresh outbreak just days out from Christmas. She brought in a localised lockdown for Sydney’s northern beaches but, with characteristic moderation, allowed small gatherings over Christmas.

Ms Berejiklian has come under fire for the state’s unorthodox approach to managing the outbreak — favouring suppression over elimination, and moderation over all else.

“Anyone who thinks we’re going to eliminate or eradicate this disease, unfortunately, doesn’t appreciate what the pandemic means,” she said last week.

Ever determined to walk the middle path, Ms Berejiklian has come up against other premiers in her commitment to balance restrictions with other interests.

“I don’t believe keeping your borders closed and inflicting pain and suffering on thousands of people is the way to do that, but that’s just the NSW strategy. All of us have the aim of zero community transmission,” she said.

Her commitment to welcoming stranded Australians into NSW’s hotel quarantine program and leadership in managing the pandemic has earned her a nomination for The Australian’s Australian of the Year Award.

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Shored up by top-tier contact tracing, she remains “confident” in the state’s ability to contain an outbreak without placing “unnecessary burdens on our citizens”.

“Let me be clear, we wouldn’t hesitate to make decisions to keep the community safe if we felt we needed to do it … but when you’re trying to strike the balance ­between keeping people with good mental health, good well being, keeping jobs, keeping life as normal as possible whilst combating the virus, you need a healthy balance and I think in NSW our decision-making ­always strives to do that,” Ms ­Berejiklian said.

It’s fair to say the Sydney-born daughter of Armenian parents — who has risen to the top of the NSW Liberal party after a distinguished career as an MP — has faced more crises than most.

In March, her government was shaken after the Ruby Princess cruise ship was allowed to dock at Circular Quay and its passengers dispersed across Australia, resulting in what was at the time our largest COVID cluster.

In October, revelations of her relationship with former MP Daryl Maguire, who resigned after a corruption probe, threatened to derail her government.

Ms Berejiklian has proved immune to the obstacles and maintained her popularity base through her deft navigation of the COVID threat.

We encourage our readers to put in a nomination for The Australian’s Australian of the Year, which was first won in 1971 by economist HC “Nugget” Coombs. Prominent Australians can be nominated by filling out the coupon above, or sending an email to [e-mail]. Nominations close on Thursday, January 21.