Gladys Berejiklian’s resignation is the latest in a long line of New South Wales premiers who fell before their time – but her political career was far from common in Australian politics.
Her sober personality and cautious approach generated broad support across the electorate, which saw her become the first woman elected NSW premier at a poll. During the first 18 months of the pandemic, she was lauded for balancing freedoms and Covid restrictions.
Throughout the Delta outbreak she enjoyed a cult-like following from some, who were shocked and saddened when revelations of a corruption investigation sank her premiership on Friday.
Early life
Born in Sydney in 1970 to Armenian parents – a nurse and a welder – Berejiklian’s family culture shaped her childhood and outlook on life.
Her grandparents were orphaned during the Armenian genocide and both her parents lived as refugees in the Middle East, in Syria and Jerusalem, before moving to Australia where they met.
Armenian was Berejiklian’s first language. She learned English by the age of five as she began school.
While she grew up in Ryde with two sisters, Mary and Rita, she only learned later in her childhood that she was a twin – she had not been told her sister was stillborn.
“It was just luck that I came out first. Imagine if you had a twin; you came out first, they didn’t make it,” Berejiklian told the Australian in 2019. “I feel like I’ve got to justify my existence by sacrificing. So I don’t care if I’m not happy all the time. I feel like I’ve got to work hard.”
Her mother, Arsha, said Gladys didn’t miss a day of school from kindergarten – even managing to dodge the chickenpox that kept her sisters home from school.
It was this self-described “goody-goody” reputation that made her first foray into politics a success – when in high school she wrote to local MPs and organised a student protest against the government’s plan to shut down her school.
Later, she was sent by her high school to Canberra to observe federal parliament, a turning point that galvanised her politically – she came back with a dream of becoming prime minister. She joined the Young Liberals, studied arts and international studies at the University of Sydney and then became president of the youth political movement.
She approached Peter Collins, a former Liberal opposition leader, for a job and worked with him before becoming an executive at the Commonwealth bank in 1998.
Berejiklian remained close to her family and when she moved out of her parents’ home, aged 29, it was to a unit in Willoughby, still on Sydney’s north shore and a centre of the Armenian community.
She succeeded Collins by becoming the MP for Willoughby at the 2003 state election, winning by just 144 votes, but went on to make the seat safe, securing 71% of the two-party preferred vote in 2019.
Political career
Berejiklian’s first major role was transport minister in 2011, having previously held the shadow portfolio while in opposition.
As minister she pushed ahead with an ambitious array of infrastructure projects, including the CBD and eastern suburbs light rail line, the north west metro, as well as the WestConnex and NorthConnex roads and a second harbour tunnel.
She launched Sydney’s Opal card system for public transport fares and was minister when the government privatised the city’s ferries.
From 2015, Berejiklian served as the NSW treasurer, and was responsible for a controversial $30bn selloff of state electricity assets, as she attempted to turn around what had become a sluggish economy by promoting investment.
In 2017, Berejiklian succeeded Mike Baird as premier after he resigned for family reasons following a backflip on banning greyhound racing.
As premier, she oversaw a series of controversial government decisions, including the relocation of the Powerhouse Museum, which was ultimately reversed, and overriding the Sydney Opera House’s wish to not have an ad for the Everest horse race projected onto its sails.
She pushed for the demolition of two relatively new football stadiums in Sydney – pushing ahead with works days before the 2019 election despite last-minute legal challenges.
In the early years of her premiership, Berejiklian – part of the moderate faction within the Liberal party – established a brand as a sensible and cautious leader.
However, her reluctance to lift Sydney’s contentious drinking lockout laws that she inherited revealed a key part of her character. She was socially conservative but with an unashamedly pro-business outlook with the latter usually losing out during a conflict.
This attitude was evident in her position during the pill testing debate. In response to a slew of young people dying from illicit drugs, in 2019 the state coroner recommended introducing pill testing at music festivals. Berejiklian defied physicians and publicans in favour of the police’s tough-on-drugs approach.
But then, months after winning the 2019 state election on a “Let’s get it done NSW” slogan – the Liberal party lost just one inner Sydney seat – she supported pro-abortion legislation while allowing a conscience vote on the issue, which almost led to a spill against her by conservative members of the Coalition government.
Despite acknowledging failures over the Ruby Princess debacle at the beginning of 2020, Berejiklian’s popularity rose throughout the Covid pandemic, as NSW’s “gold standard” contact tracing regime allowed her to stare down potential outbreaks while largely dodging the harsher lockdowns experienced in other states.
In late 2020, she saw off a threat from the Nationals leader, John Barilaro, to leave the Coalition over koala protection laws.
Then came the bombshell revelation about her relationship with Daryl McGuire that would ultimately lead to her downfall. She survived the scandal at the time even though it would have ended most premierships.
As the federal government mangled the vaccine rollout, NSW’s competent state health system stepped in to fill the gaps. Berejiklian was criticised for waiting before locking down to contain the Delta outbreak that began in mid-June 2021 and then stood firm against MPs who wanted to lift restrictions.
She was scorned for announcing an end to daily press conferences after unveiling her roadmap to reopening – but there were ultimately only a handful of days when an official did not front the media.
She pushed ahead with an ambitious vaccination campaign that promised to deliver freedoms to NSW residents ahead of other states.
Personality
Berejiklian occasionally took principled stands against the federal Coalition – including on the bungled vaccine rollout. She spoke at community events about the federal Liberal party’s hesitancy to recognise the Armenian genocide.
In addition to stoushes within her own party, she didn’t get along with shock jock Alan Jones – which could be difficult given his influence in NSW. Jones once warned her head was “in a noose” over the government’s mining policy.
Throughout her time in politics, Berejiklian’s manner mirrored her careful leadership style. However, when the revelations about her relationship with McGuire surfaced, public debate often focused on her poor choice of boyfriend. For someone who had seemed at pains to acknowledge she had a personal life, the scandal endeared her further to some in NSW.
Berejiklian in late June revealed she was dating the prominent Sydney lawyer Arthur Moses – who had represented her at Icac hearings in 2020 – via an Instagram post from her sister.
Appreciation for Berejiklian multiplied on social media during the pandemic, with an online community devoted to fan-created artworks of the premier going viral. Each time she fronted her daily Covid update more artworks and TikTok tributes would appear.
The premier also posted a bizarre photo of herself in NSW Blues gear facing away from the camera ahead of a State of Origin match this year – prompting an onslaught of memes.
The press was cognisant of the popularity of Berejiklian along with other state premiers during the pandemic. She posed for a photo with the Australian Financial Review in April for a cover story on “the woman who saved Australia”.
In a cruel irony, Berejiklian also fronted the AFR’s “power” edition magazine in NSW published on Friday just hours before her resignation.
Ultimately, Berejiklian’s exit from politics was met with sadness in some quarters – despite numerous policy backflips and controversies including her office’s shredding of documents – due to her personal popularity. There was a sense, too, that she created stability during the pandemic.
In the hours after her announcement, constituents posted placards of support on the front of her electorate office in Northbridge. “Long live Gladys,” one read.
In her final address as premier, Berejiklian stated: “Please know that every day I gave it my all and worked as hard as I could to create a better future for our state and its people.”
