New South Wales Premier Resigns over Investigation into “Breach of Public Trust”

The Premier of New South Wales (NSW) has resigned following the announcement that the Australian state’s Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) is investigating her conduct between 2012 and 2018 that “constituted or involved a breach of public trust”. Reuters has the story.

Berejiklian’s shock resignation comes as the state, which has an economy larger than Singapore, Thailand or Malaysia, battles the biggest Covid outbreak in the country and is poised to begin ending months-long lockdowns as Australia sets to reopen international borders in November.

Berejiklian said the issues being investigated were “historical matters” but she felt compelled to resign because of the long time frames likely to be involved in the investigation. She also said the state needed certainty over its leadership amid the coronavirus pandemic.

“I state categorically I have always acted with the highest level of integrity,” she said at a news conference.

The ICAC said in a statement on its website that it will hold further public hearings as part of its ongoing investigation, Operation Keppel, on October 18th.

That investigation has already heard Berejiklian was once in a secret relationship with a state legislator who is the focus of its corruption investigation. …

Berejiklian is the second NSW premier to resign because of an ICAC investigation. NSW leader Barry O’Farrell quit in 2014 after giving evidence in which he forgot to tell the commission he had accepted a gift of a $3,000 bottle of Grange wine.

Berejiklian said she had told ministers in her Government if they were the subject of an integrity investigation they should stand aside until their name was cleared, but in her case, as Premier this wasn’t an option. She will leave parliament as soon as a by-election can take place. …

Berejiklian gave evidence at an ICAC hearing 12 months ago, and denied any wrong doing.

ICAC on Friday said the scope of its investigation had widened and includes whether between 2012 and 2018 Berejiklian “engaged in conduct that constituted or involved a breach of public trust by exercising public functions in circumstances where she was in a position of conflict between her public duties and her private interest” as she was in a personal relationship with the then NSW MP Daryl Maguire.

The potential breach involved grant funding promised to community organisations in Maguire’s electorate of Wagga Wagga, and whether she failed to report, or encouraged, corrupt conduct by Maguire. Maguire’s legal representative declined to comment.

Worth reading in full.

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PhantomOfLiberty
PhantomOfLiberty
4 years ago

The lady who told citizens they must not talk to each other?

Rogerborg
4 years ago

Bless you for your courtesy in calling that deranged despotic harpy a “lady”.

Gregoryno6
4 years ago

That’s Kerry Chant. Gladdy was Premier, ie leader of the state government. Chant is Chief Health Officer, and has never actually practised medicine. Closest she got was working in a pharmacy.

itoldyouiwasill
itoldyouiwasill
4 years ago

“I state categorically I have always acted with the highest level of integrity.”
So why resign? Surely if you are innocent, your name will be cleared?
These people are utterly shameless, lying b******s.

crisisgarden
4 years ago

You just couldn’t fucking make this stuff up. Satire is dead.

Gregoryno6
4 years ago
Reply to  crisisgarden

It’s not dead. It’s just resting!

TheyLiveAndWeLockdown
4 years ago

Upon CovidCop’s activation, Xis/Xer directives were as follows:

  1. “Serve the public trust”
  2. “Protect the innocent”
  3. “Uphold the law”
  4. “Any attempt to arrest a senior officer of EcoHealth Alliance results in shutdown”

She must’ve resigned or been fired…

itoldyouiwasill
itoldyouiwasill
4 years ago

Jumped before she was shoved, a deal struck no doubt. These people must be absolutely laughing at us.

Rogerborg
4 years ago

Ordered to resign by her owners, to end the investigation before it found her strings.

They don’t want to have to clean up any more Epsteins.

Rowan
Rowan
4 years ago

Yes, she had to go, the public weren’t taking her brand of nonsense seriously enough. No doubt the replacement will be considered to be more up to the job and that’s a danger. Things are now likely to get even worse.

Mayo
Mayo
4 years ago

UK column is covering this at the moment. Interesting comments from former Aussie politician Clive Palmer.

Teddy Edward
4 years ago
Reply to  Mayo

Not sure of UK Column anymore especially that Brian character given his back ground.Strangely he mentioned a few months back that the Vax was a de population tool but never followed it up?

Teddy Edward
4 years ago
Reply to  Teddy Edward

This site is severely compromised Bye!

Banjones
Banjones
4 years ago
Reply to  Teddy Edward

Inside information, Mr Edward?

rayc
rayc
4 years ago

Rats leaving a sinking ship.

Rogerborg
4 years ago
Reply to  rayc

Tools being disposed of.

iane
iane
4 years ago
Reply to  rayc

No: shits trying to escape a sinking rap!

Garfy1967
Garfy1967
4 years ago

The bitch can take a jump off a very high cliff. A heinous, abhorrent woman. But no doubt she’ll get replaced by another member of the Covidian Cult. Australia has now fully transformed into Gilead and is finished as a nation forever.

TheyLiveAndWeLockdown
4 years ago
Reply to  Garfy1967

It has gone balmy…

/I’ll get my coat…

Banjones
Banjones
4 years ago
Reply to  Garfy1967

I upticked you – but I hope your final words prove to be wrong!

Annie
4 years ago

What’s an Australian politician’s concept of ‘integrity’? Has it been re-defined by the WHO for Australia’s especial benefit?

Hopeless
4 years ago

Some slight schadenfreude that institutional corruption is thriving as well in Australia as it is here.

Manjushri
Manjushri
4 years ago

Maybe the NWO decided they want her replaced by someone more user friendly fascist?

Rogerborg
4 years ago
Reply to  Manjushri

It seems likely, although she followed orders to the best of her limited ability and will be rewarded for her loyalty once the heat is off.

IanC
4 years ago
Reply to  Rogerborg

Kind of Hancockesque…

Rogerborg
4 years ago

I wonder which puppet master cut her strings to stop them being followed upwards.

She will be replaced by a new marionette soon enough, dancing to the same tune.

HelenaHancart
HelenaHancart
4 years ago
Reply to  Rogerborg

The same as the puppets here in Control-Mind…sorry, I mean’t “Govern-Ment!”

thinkcriticall
4 years ago
Ruth Learner
Ruth Learner
4 years ago
Reply to  thinkcriticall

Yes- Australia (NSW) has a corruption commission I can’t help reading all these comments and thinking about the UK and the corporate / government stitch up behind most recent bills / policies – it’s def global – there is no more independent govt except in the odd South American and African country – with helpings of a brave Indian judiciary. In three words: we are fucked

steve_z
4 years ago

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-58763845

Covid: One in 20 secondary-age children infected in England

good. should never have shut the schools – we just delayed them getting it.

iane
iane
4 years ago
Reply to  steve_z

Yes – BUT that should read ‘infected’!

jingleballix
4 years ago

On the face of it, this is a historic crime, but it will be interesting to learn if the ICAC have reopened the old investigation.

If they have then they will be searching Berejiklain’s office, seeing her phone and computer and examining her recent contacts.

I also wonder if they have had her phone tapped in the past 18 months.

Wouldn’t it be great if they had her bang to rights talking mutual back-scratching with a representative of Big Pharma?

Just speculation……..but it could explain why she has decided to go immediately.

Fingers crossed.

DanClarke
DanClarke
4 years ago

Would be amazing to see a before and after of all of the ‘leaders’ bank accounts during the covid scamdemic,

mikec
4 years ago

It was interesting to hear the leader from Belarus say he was offered bribes by the IMF to lockdown his country. The fact checkers say he was wrong, but I doubt they were at the meetings? Incompetence and fraud, as usual that’s what’s behind the whole scam.

https://www.armstrongeconomics.com/world-news/corruption/belarusian-president-claims-imf-world-bank-offered-him-a-bribe-to-impose-covid-restrictions/

covidschmovid
covidschmovid
4 years ago
Annie
4 years ago
Reply to  covidschmovid

Et j’irai cracher sur vos tombes. (Boris Vian)

covidschmovid
covidschmovid
4 years ago
Reply to  Annie

Absolument!

DanClarke
DanClarke
4 years ago

Maurice Strong,Canadian, who I only heard of recently, and his Agenda 21, who envisioned a world that looked like China and the demolition of the US. He died in China but his Agenda appears to be living on

covidschmovid
covidschmovid
4 years ago
Reply to  DanClarke

Another notable piece of shit.
Goodness, I’m feeling vituperative today.

DanClarke
DanClarke
4 years ago
Reply to  covidschmovid

Better out than in, as they say

Gregoryno6
4 years ago

If I had a doller for every ‘Dan next’ comment on the internet…

Phil Shannon
4 years ago

Bye, Bye Gladys (or Glad the Impaler, as some ungrateful citizens called the lockdown Empress).   Who would have thought it – a crooked politician (in this case falling afoul of a conflict of interest in signing off on government grants that favoured entities associated with her paramour).   True, she does have many admirerers, including our useless ‘Liberal’ Prime Minister (“Gladys has always been a vibrant spirit doing the best for the people of NSW”, said Scott Morrison) whilst from the opposite end of the formal political spectrum, Labor’s Daniel Andrews (now there is a testimonial worth having) said “I find her to be a person of integrity and a person that works hard for her state”. If economy-crushing lockdown is ‘working hard for your state’, then I’d hate to see what a more lackadaisical approach might achieve.   “My only regret will be not to be able to finish the job to ensure the people of New South Wales transition to living freely with COVID” Berejiklian said. Now, let’s see, this is the woman whose Health Department uses a PCR cycle threshold of 40-45 cycles (which even the Big Pharma-controlled WHO now says is too high), guaranteeing a fake ‘case’… Read more »

FrankFisher
4 years ago

Every single one of these lockdowners turns out to have links to Chinese state money.

Banjones
Banjones
4 years ago

”… the biggest covid outbreak in the country…” Not saying much, is it?

marebobowl
marebobowl
4 years ago

It was a billionaire who turned her in. Now if we could have just one billionaire per country do the same, it would be a start in clearing up this mess.