NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian has given a lengthy apology for a “mistake” in her personal life, but said she never considered resigning because she didn’t do anything wrong, despite calls from the opposition.
Earlier today, Berejiklian told the Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) that she had a “close personal relationship” with disgraced former Member for Wagga Wagga Daryl Maguire.
Maguire resigned in 2018 after a corruption scandal, but the two kept in touch until last month.
“I want to state at the outset that, had I known then what I know now, clearly I would not have made those personal decisions that I did,” Berejiklian said on Monday afternoon.
“I trusted someone that I’d known for a long time, and I feel really, really let down. I trusted him for a long time.
“We were colleagues for 15 years, and I’m not going to take away from the fact that I made a mistake in my personal life, but I have to say that there is huge separation between a personal life and public office.”
Berejiklian was supported during the announcement by Treasurer and Deputy Leader of the NSW Liberal Party Dominic Perrottet, and Health Minister Brad Hazzard.
She said she never mentioned anything back in 2018 because she didn’t want to hurt him further after giving him the sack.
“I’d known him for 15 years, he lost his career, his friends, he lost everything, and he was in a very dark place, and I didn’t feel that I could stop being his friend during that time,” she said.
“It may not have been on the public record, but his son-in-law died the day I sacked him, and I carried a bit of guilt about those circumstances.”
Berejiklian, who is not married and shares very little of her private life, went on to call the scandal a “personal nightmare”.
“You cannot appreciate, for someone who’s very private, for someone who is very by the book, for someone who put her trust in someone she thought she could trust – I’d known him for 15 years – I can’t tell you what it’s done to me personally,” she added.
“It’s been devastating, and I’ve had to bear this on top of everything else.”
The secret relationship was never known to her family or friends because, Berejiklian claimed, it wasn’t serious enough to be a thing.
The Previous NSW Premier, and Berejiklian’s mentor, Barry O’Farrell, actually did resign after giving evidence at ICAC which was later contradicted by a handwritten note.
Berejiklian said O’Farrell actually told her today to “stay in the job”.
Earlier today, NSW Opposition Leader Jodi McKay called upon the Premier to resign in the wake of the admission, describing her handling of the relationship as “recklessness”.
