Dancing with Berejiklian

The corruption at the heart of our political class

The response by members of the political class—particularly politicians—to the findings of corruption against former NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian is an amazing insight into the born-to-rule mentality of those in positions of power in our country, and it shines a bright light on the contempt in which they hold the electorate and democracy itself.

It is tempting to think of this as Berejiklian’s side of politics going into bat for her, but as no less a figure than Chris Minns, the Labor Premier of NSW, made clear in his response to the ICAC ruling, this attitude infects “both” sides of politics, illustrating perfectly how the interests of the political class as a class override more marginal party-based differences.

Minns’ response was supportive of Berejiklian herself, while throwing just enough shade across the processes of ICAC to give the impression that, yeah, he broadly supports their work, but thinks that reform is needed to not cause too much inconvenience to those politicians w…