Australia's NSW state premier resigns after corruption watchdog launches probe
SYDNEY, Oct 1 (Reuters) - The premier of Australia's most populous state New South Wales (NSW), Gladys Berejiklian, resigned on Friday after a corruption watchdog said it was investigating whether she was involved in conduct that "constituted or involved a breach of public trust".
Berejiklian's shock resignation comes as the state battles the biggest COVID-19 outbreak in the country and is poised to begin ending months-long lockdowns as Australia sets to reopen international borders in November. read more
Berejiklian said the issues being investigated were "historical matters" but she felt compelled to resign because of the long time frames likely to be involved in the investigation. She also said the state needed certainty over its leadership amid the coronavirus pandemic.
"I state categorically I have always acted with the highest level of integrity" she said at a news conference.
The NSW Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) said in a statement on its website that it will hold further public hearings as part of its ongoing investigation, Operation Keppel, on Oct. 18.
That investigation has already heard Berejiklian was once in a secret relationship with a state legislator who is the focus of its corruption investigation.
"My resignation as premier 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, the most challenging times in the state's history," she said.
Berejiklian, who became premier in 2017, had fronted the media on an almost daily basis to announce COVID-19 infection rates and restrictions on businesses, schools and households as the state battled an outbreak of the Delta variant that began in June.
In the past week, daily infection tallies had begun to fall as the state neared an 70 percent vaccination target, and greater freedom of movement is expected to be granted in mid-October.
NSW recorded new 864 cases on Friday and 15 deaths, however officials had warned hospitals would face a peak in sick patients throughout October.
She is the second NSW premier to resign because of an ICAC investigation: NSW leader Barry O'Farrell quit in 2014 after giving evidence in which he forgot to tell the commission he had accepted a gift of a $3,000 bottle of Grange wine.
Read further
https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/australian-state-corruption-watchdog-says-is-investigating-nsw-premier-2021-10-01/
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