New South Wales Leader Resigns Upon Being Investigated for Corruption
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Gladys Berejiklian, leader of New South Wales, Australia, resigns, narrowly dodging an investigation for corruption.
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Berejiklian and Maguire, both being investigated.
"It pains me to announce that I have no option but to resign from the office of the premier," Gladys Berejiklian, leader of the most populated state in Australia, announced.
After realizing that the government's corruption watchdog had launched an investigation against her, Berejiklian announced her resignation from parliament. Reportedly, the investigation was carried out by the New South Wales Independent Commission Against Corruption, which was probing into the leader's transactions between 2012 and 2018. The investigation aimed to look into the breach of public trust.
The leader turned down answering any questions by the press; however, she said that her resignation will come into effect as soon as the Liberal Party finds another leader to take her place.
The New South Wales Independent Commission Against Corruption said they were looking into how and where money flowed when grants were awarded to community organizations in Wagga Wagga, southern NSW. A public inquiry is scheduled for October 18, 2021, as the relationship between Berejiklian's public duties and private interests will be addressed and inspected. The investigated timeframe was a critical period for the leader: Apparently, she was in a secret relationship with formal Australian politician, Daryl Maguire.
However, Berejiklian isn't the only one being probed into: Maguire will also have a taste. Breaches of public trust in 2018 regarding whether the politician used his position to 'improperly' gain leverage for himself and his colleagues are also being examined by the commission.
Berejiklian deemed the previous affair as "historic matters," and accused the commission of cornering her, leaving her no option but to resign.
"I state categorically, I have always acted with the highest level of integrity," she asserted. "My resignation could not occur at a worse time but the timing is completely outside of my control as the ICAC has chosen to take this action during the most challenging weeks of the most challenging time in the state's history," referring to COVID-19.
