In a hastily convened media briefing in late morning of Friday, 1st October, Gladys Berjeklian made a bombshell statement that she was resigning as Premier of NSW and from Parliament. This was following the announcement by the State's watchdog, the Independent Commission on Corruption (ICAC) that it is investigating whether Ms Bejeklian had been involved in a "breach of public trust" between 2012 and 2018 because of her relationship with the former Wagga Wagga MP, Darryl Maguire.
Ms Berjeklian said she had been given "no choice" but to resign as Premier. She said:
"My resignation as Premier could not happen 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 of the most challenging times in the history of NSW.
"That is the ICAC's prerogative. Resigning at this time is against every instinct in my being and something which I do not want to do. I love my job and serving the community, but I have been given no option following the statement issued."
The usual media briefing at 11am was not held. The statistics however were made available. These are as shown below.
In the meantime, the Prime Minister Scott Morrison spoke about the lifting of travel ban in matter of weeks. Australians who are fully vaccinated would be able to do interstate and international travel. Returning travellers would be able to undertake seven day home quarantine, rather than the previous hotel quarantine arrangment which costs $3,000 per individual.
