Good morning everybody, the Liberal Party is reportedly gunning for former NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian to run again. As ABBA, a band who I imagine Berejiklian is a big fan of, famously sang: “Mamma Mia, here we go again”.
According to a report by the Daily Telegraph, in the lead-up to the state’s local government election on the 4th of December, Berejiklian is being strongly encouraged to run for the seat of Warringah.
Warringah is the seat formerly owned by ex-Prime Minister and current-onion muncher Tony Abbott. In 2011, Independent candidate and former Olympian Zali Steggall won the seat over him and is believed to win it again with a majority vote.
As a result, the Liberal Party is reportedly wanting Berejiklian to run in that seat to secure what was once a traditionally Liberal seat. Per the report, Prime Flopster Scott Morrison told party supporters he was “confident he can get her to run”.
Side note: is it just me or does that sound like a threat?
“She’s popular all over,” a senior government source told the outlet.
“She’s the only one who would win it.”
That’s right. As of 8PM last night, NSW recorded just one disgraced politician who reportedly will restart their career just months after resigning from her role as state Premier. The Australian political urge to try and run for another seat after catapulting your career into the sun, etc, etc.
Interestingly, Gladys Berejiklian refused to comment on this rumour on Friday. That’s pretty suss if you ask me…
Berejiklian stepped down from her then duties as state Premier on the 1st of October following an Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) investigation into whether she breached public trust between 2012 and 2018, and if her private relationship with former Member for Wagga Wagga Daryl Maguire put her in a conflict of interest.
At the time she said, “My resignation as a Premier could not happen at a worse time… I have been given no option”.
In that same inquiry, the former member for Willoughby said that her ex-lover was in her “love circle”. We stan a polyamorous political queen.
According to senior government sources, the party doesn’t think what was revealed in that inquiry – including the fact she told Maguire over the phone that she’ll “just throw money at Wagga” and secured funding for his projects – did not warrant her resignation. In fact, they claim that Berejiklian is still as popular as she was prior to the inquiry.
“We don’t think what’s been presented at ICAC is anything like a disqualification”.
Following her resignation, former NSW Treasurer Dominic Perrottet replaced Berejiklian as Premier.
