Gladys Berejiklian has proclaimed she is the best person to be the next NSW Premier because she knows "how to get things done" and fended off attacks over the circumstances of her expected appointment to the state's top political job.
Ms Berejiklian is set to be elected Liberal Party leader at a party meeting on Monday morning after Transport Minister Andrew Constance and Planning Minister Rob Stokes confirmed they would not run.
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Berejiklian likely to be next NSW Premier
Following the shock resignation of Mike Baird on Thursday, speculation surrounds NSW Treasurer Gladys Berejiklian to succeed him.
But on Friday – a day after Premier Mike Baird announced he will quit politics next week – Ms Berejiklian came under attack from broadcaster Alan Jones and Opposition Leader Luke Foley.
Calling into his 2GB radio program from holidays, Mr Jones said Ms Berejiklian lacks the ability to be premier and accused her of being installed by party factions without a proper contest.
![Gladys Berejiklian says her strength is that she gets things done.](/web/20170120102435im_/http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/content/dam/images/g/t/v/5/8/0/image.related.articleLeadwide.620x349.gtvotq.png/1484900087433.jpg)
"[She] is not across these issues in a million light years," Jones said, referring to issues left behind by the Baird government, such as council amalgamations and the lockout laws.
Jones agreed when asked if Ms Berejiklian was a "bad choice" and attacked the factional deal that has shored up her numbers in the party room, singling out powerbrokers Michael Photios and Alex Hawke.
"Before [Mr Baird's] announcement was made, the Gladys Berejiklian forces were already ringing up and doing deals so that this would all be a fait accompli," he said.
"It's all being stitched up. The public won't cop it. There is no democracy."
!["There is no democracy": Alan Jones.](/web/20170120102435im_/http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/content/dam/images/g/s/5/y/6/v/image.related.articleLeadwide.620x349.gtvotq.png/1484900087433.jpg)
Mr Foley criticised "the fix" that would deliver Ms Berejiklian the leadership.
"The powerbrokers and lobbyists who pull the strings in the NSW Liberal Party have decided Gladys Berejiklian will be their premier, no one else need apply," he said.
Ms Berejiklian told Fairfax Media she did not want to dignify the criticism with a response but offered a defence of her independence.
"I've done things my own way every since I've entered public office," she said.
"I've been very different in the way that I've done things but I've been proud of myself for conducting myself in the way that I have."
"I'm my own harshest critic but I'm also master of my own destiny. I've worked very hard to protect that and very hard to maintain my independence and my integrity."
Asked why she felt she was ready to become premier, Ms Berejiklian pointed to her six years as a minister in the challenging portfolios of transport and treasury.
She had also witnessed two premiers from "a very close distance".
"I just feel I can deliver the best outcomes for the people of NSW," she said.
"I know how to fix a problem. I know how to get things done."