Gladys Berejiklian Appointed NSW Premier
The Hon Gladys Berejikilian MP has been elected Leader of the NSW Liberal Party following a party-room meeting earlier this morning. As a result, she will be sworn in as the 45th Premier of NSW, the second female Premier in the state's history and the first female Liberal Premier of any state.
Ms Berejiklian's election comes following the announcement by former NSW Premier Mike Baird last Thursday that he intended to resign from politics following this morning's meeting. Mr Baird will hand his formal resignation to the Governor later this afternoon.
Current NSW Minister for Finance and Services, the Hon Dominic Perrottet MP, was also elected Deputy Liberal Leader following his announcement last week that he would run on a joint-ticket with Ms Berejiklian. Both Ms Berejikilan and Mr Perrottet were elected to their positions unopposed.
The new leadership team marks a refresh for the NSW Government as it reaches the halfway point in its term, giving Ms Berejiklian two years to place her stamp on the strategic direction of the state prior to the 2019 election.
Ms Berejiklian’s first challenge as Premier will be to negotiate with Deputy Premier and Leader of the Nationals, the Hon John Barilaro MP, in relation to the Government’s council amalgamation agenda. Last Friday, the Deputy Premier called for pending amalgamations of regional councils to be halted. Ms Berejiklian also commented over the weekend that she intends to "go even harder" on building new infrastructure.
A full Cabinet reshuffle is also expected to take place later this week.
NSW Premeir Gladys Berejiklian
"I will be working hard for everyone, listening to everyone and governing for everyone". NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian
The Premier has been a strong performer for the NSW Liberal Party since her election to the seat of Willoughby in 2003, and is renowned for a detailed and disciplined approach.
Formerly NSW Treasurer and Transport Minister before that, she has been instrumental in transforming the state’s economy and initiating many of the major public transport projects now under construction.
Under her watch as Treasurer, NSW achieved the strongest financial position in its history and the strongest of any state in the country, with net debt being eliminated and a $4 billion surplus being delivered for 2016-17.
In 2011, Ms Berejiklian was appointed Minister for Transport after former Premier Barry O’Farrell led the Coalition to victory. This appointment came after several years as Shadow Minister for Transport. In this role, she implemented the Opal card network and commenced construction of the Northwest Rail Link among other major transport infrastructure projects.
Ms Berejiklian, 46, is the daughter of Armenian migrants. She is a former NSW Young Liberals President and Commonwealth Bank executive.
NSW Deputy Liberal Leader Dominic Perrottet
Alongside Ms Berejiklian, Dominic Perrottet has been appointed Deputy Leader of the NSW Liberal Party by his parliamentary colleagues.
In 2011, Mr Perrottet became the youngest member of parliament upon his election to the seat of Castle Hill.
In 2015, following an electoral redistribution he won the seat of Hawkesbury with 60.7 percent of the vote on a two party preferred basis.
Following the election of the O’Farrell Government in 2011, Mr Perrottet was made Chair of the Legal Affairs Committee. Upon the ascension of Mike Baird as Premier in April 2014, Mr Perrottet was appointed Minister for Finance and Services, responsible for government finances, major public works, procurement and the administration of state taxation. NSW land and property administration was added to the portfolio following the Liberal's 2015 election win.
Before entering parliament, Mr Perrottet worked as a solicitor at law firm Henry Davis York, specialising in banking restructuring and insolvency law.
Cover photo source: NewsCorp Australia
Further Information
For further information about the NSW Government in 2017, please contact Ian Hancock on (02) 9223 0311 or via email: ih@premierstate.net.