NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian. [Source: smh.com.au]
Gladys Berejiklian has announced she will quit as NSW Premier after the Independent Commission Against Corruption revealed she was being investigated.
Berejiklian read a prepared statement and did not take any questions. She was advised about the ICAC investigation on yesterday afternoon.
She says as premier, it is not an option for her to stand aside while the ICAC inquiry took place, saying she did not know how long that would take and that the people of NSW needed certainty.
Berejiklian says she will also leave parliament as soon as a byelection can be held.
The NSW corruption watchdog announced it will investigate whether she breached public trust or encouraged the occurrence of corrupt conduct during her secret relationship with disgraced former MP Daryl Maguire.
The ICAC says it is investigating whether between 2012 and 2018 Berejiklian engaged in conduct that “constituted or involved a breach of public trust by exercising public functions” relating to her public role and her private, personal relationship with Maguire.
The inquiry will look at grant money awarded to the Australian Clay Target Association in 2016/17 and grant funding awarded to the Riverina Conservatorium of Music in 2018.
