A jagged tear in the sterling reputation of ‘Saint Gladys’

Other dubious behaviour left unchecked can also infect broader political culture – as demonstrated once again by the “everyone does it” justifications by various factional players in branch-stacking Victoria.

Any corruption inquiry, evidence, questioning of politicians will always differ in details. What is identical is the difficulty in limiting the stain spreading to anyone investigated as a “person of interest”, especially in public.

An ICAC appearance is a notably brutal send-off to a stellar career for Berejiklian. Her many supporters – probably even a majority of NSW voters – believe she has been unfairly targeted for relatively minor errors of judgment that can’t compare to her impressive commitment to managing COVID-19.

Morrison naturally joined in the criticism, arguing millions of people seeing what had happened to Berejiklian would understand it was a “good call” for the Commonwealth not to follow the NSW ICAC model.

But that argument is not only irrelevant. It ignores the obvious.

Berejiklian used to be best known for scrupulous attention to detail, relentless work ethic, technical competence and single-minded devotion to her career. Now she is also known for failure to connect the dots when it comes to potential corrupt behaviour and conflicts of interest.

She was certainly unlucky to have been caught up in a separate ICAC inquiry investigating alleged corrupt activities of her former lover and ex-Liberal MP, Daryl Maguire. She was hardly seeking financial advantage herself. There’s more public sorrow and regret than anger at her unhappy exit.

But the opening statement of Scott Robertson – the counsel assisting the commission – based on ICAC’s months of private investigations, puts another jagged tear in the sterling reputation of “Saint Gladys” leading the nation in living with COVID.

This strong image had survived stunning revelations at ICAC exactly one year ago that she had had an unlikely, long-term relationship with Maguire even after he had been forced to resign in 2018.

Yet that protection couldn’t survive ICAC’s continued probing. ICAC issued a public statement on October 1 saying it was investigating whether she was involved in “a breach of public trust” between 2012 and 2018 while treasurer and then premier.

The couple’s taped phone calls and texts obtained by ICAC showed Maguire frequently boasting of the money to come to him from his own secret side deals with property developers. Sleazy is the obvious adjective.

ICAC is also examining two “case studies” of Berejiklian’s role in political and bureaucratic approval of government grants to build a clay target association project and a music conservatorium in his electorate when her colleagues had no knowledge of their relationship.

According to the commission, that raises the possibility of preference to these organisations over others with public officials saying they were influenced by Berejiklian’s support and interest.

Announcing her own resignation, an infuriated Berejiklian denied she did anything wrong, insisting she had always executed her duties with the highest degree of integrity.

She will no doubt repeat that defence when she re-appears at ICAC next week. She had still been left with no choice but to resign immediately, she said aggrievedly, in order to avoid the distraction of an indefinite ICAC inquiry at a crucial time for the state.

NSW was in COVID-19 extremis when Berejiklian was called to a private ICAC hearing a few weeks earlier to answer hard questions. This week an excruciating televised excerpt from that hearing became part of the public record of the investigation into her conduct.

ICAC’s repeated questioning last month about whether she had had any “suspicion” of Maguire’s possible corruption is also key. When he had to resign, Berejiklian as premier had issued a statement saying how shocked and disappointed she was.

Under the ICAC Act, the suspicion of possible corrupt behaviour must be reported to ICAC straightaway. According to the evidence revealed on Monday, Berejiklian insisted she had been in shock, didn’t know, wasn’t sure and couldn’t remember what she thought of Maguire’s behaviour before finally saying she didn’t suspect corruption in 2018.

Using opaque but pointed language, Robertson declared “an issue arises as to whether the commission should accept” that evidence.

He also argued a person’s “ordinary entitlement to privacy must be subordinated to their public duty” in some circumstances, including for those holding a position of public trust such as a premier or treasurer.

ICAC will drag Berejiklian’s predecessor, Mike Baird, back into the political spotlight given he has also been called to give evidence.

Dominic Perrottet, Berejiklian’s successor as both NSW treasurer and then premier, delicately said ICAC had a job to do and he wouldn’t provide a running commentary.

The evidence over the next 10 days will do it for him. For better or worse.