New South Wales Premier Gladys Berejiklian has become ensnared this week in the sensational ICAC hearings into alleged corruption by former MP Daryl Maguire — and suddenly finds her future very much in doubt.
Meanwhile, Berejiklian, who has denied any wrongdoing by maintaining a personal relationship with Maguire even after he was forced to resign as MP, has faced calls from the Opposition for her to resign.
Read more: Brand Gladys: how ICAC revelations hurt Berejiklian's 'school captain' image
Whether Berejiklian will be forced to step down remains to be seen. But it’s becoming clearer by the day that, at the very least, her reputation will be seriously tarnished by the explosive revelations.
Berejiklian is hardly the first NSW politician to become enmeshed in scandal.
Corruption has been ingrained in the political culture of NSW, from the days of its founding in the 19th century. This is the very reason the Independent Commission Against Corruption was formed in 1988 — and why it remains a vital watchdog over the inner workings of state government
ABC - The long history of political corruption in NSW — and the downfall of MPs, ministers and premiers
The NSW Parliamentary Library stack was coined Dungeon ...
The American miniseries The Comey Rule others important insights into the fraught relationship between governments and the institutions charged with responsibility for holding them to account. What has happened in the United States under Trump should be an urgent warning to other nations: democracies are less robust than we have come to assume. While Berejiklian is proclaiming her own uncompromising dedication to "the people of NSW," the staff of ICAC, working invisibly in the background, may be the truer servants of the public good.
Gladys Berejiklian's ICAC appearance throws light on dangerous irony By Jane Goodall
