New South Wales Legislative Assembly Treasurer of New South Wales Minister for Industrial Relations
What was the position of Gladys Berejiklian in Aug 2015?
Gladys Berejiklian Gladys Berejiklian ( ; born 22 September 1970 ) is an Australian politician serving as the 45th and current Premier of New South Wales and the Leader of the New South Wales Liberal Party , offices which she assumed on 23 January 2017 following the resignation of Mike Baird . She has been a member of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly since 2003 , representing the seat of Willoughby . Before becoming Premier , Berejiklian was the Treasurer of New South Wales and Minister for Industrial Relations in the second Baird government , and Minister for Transport in the OFarrell and first Baird governments . She was also the Deputy Leader of the New South Wales Liberal Party between 2014 and 2017 . On 23 March 2019 , she was re-elected as Premier of New South Wales when the Liberal-National Coalition won the 2019 state election . Early life . Berejiklian was born in Manly Hospital , Sydney , the eldest of three daughters born to Armenian immigrant parents , Krikor and Arsha . Her grandparents were orphaned by Turkish soldiers in the Armenian genocide in 1915 . Berejiklian spoke only Armenian until she was five years old , when she began learning English . She has remained involved in the Armenian-Australian community , serving a term on the Armenian National Committee of Australia . In 2015 , she attended a commemoration ceremony in Yerevan for the 100th anniversary of the Armenian genocide . Berejiklian attended North Ryde High School , which became Peter Board High School from 1986 , a public , co-educational school in North Ryde . She was a member of Girl Guides and continues to support the organisation . She has a Bachelor of Arts ( 1992 ) and a graduate diploma in international studies ( 1996 ) from the University of Sydney and a Masters in Commerce from the University of New South Wales ( 2001 ) . She joined the Liberal Party in 1993 and was president of the New South Wales Young Liberals from 1997 to 1998 , being the third female president in its history . She also served as a Delegate to State Council ( 1996–2003 ) , Urban Representative of the NSW Liberal Party State Executive ( 1997–2003 ) , Campaign Director for State seat of Willoughby ( 1999 ) and Chair of Convention Committee ( 2002 ) . Berejiklian also worked for Peter Collins and Senator Helen Coonan and the Commonwealth Bank as general manager , Youth Retail Banking and Government & Industry Affairs . Political career . Opposition ( 2003–2011 ) . Berejiklian won Liberal preselection for Willoughby in 2003 when former Opposition Leader Peter Collins , who had represented the Willoughby area since 1981 , decided to retire . Willoughby has historically been a comfortably safe Liberal seat even by northern Sydney standards ; counting its time as Middle Harbour , it has been held by the Liberals , their predecessors or a conservative independent for all but one term since 1927 . However , she faced a spirited challenge from Pat Reilly , the longtime mayor of the City of Willoughby , who nearly took the seat on Labor preferences . Ultimately , Berejiklian won by 144 votes , with the Liberals suffering a swing of 10.9 points . However , Berejiklian easily saw off a rematch with Reilly after picking up a healthy swing of 14.5 points , enough to revert Willoughby to its traditional status as a comfortably safe Liberal seat . She has not faced a serious challenge since , with Labor often being pushed into third place . Berejiklian joined the front bench in 2005 as Shadow Minister for Mental Health and was appointed to the opposition front bench portfolio of Transport by Peter Debnam in 2006 . Following the 2007 State election , she was given the shadow portfolio of Citizenship by Opposition Leader OFarrell in his Shadow Ministry . OFarrell Government ( 2011–2014 ) . Following the election of the OFarrell government at the 2011 state election , Berejiklian was appointed Transport Minister on 3 April 2011 . The major achievements in her term as Minister for Transport include the extension of the Sydney Light Rail Dulwich Hill Line from to ; the phased introduction of the Opal card ; and commencement of construction of the North West Rail Link . She was also Transport Minister at the time the NSW government stopped trains running to Newcastle Station , which now terminate at Wickham . The former rail corridor has now been re-zoned by Newcastle City Council and a proportion of that land is expected to be sold . Baird Government ( 2014–2017 ) . On 17 April 2014 , Mike Baird was elected Leader of the New South Wales Liberal Party , and hence Premier , following the resignation of Barry OFarrell . Berejiklian was elected as Bairds deputy . In a subsequent ministerial reshuffle , in addition to her existing responsibilities , on 23 April 2014 Berejiklian was sworn in as the Minister for the Hunter . Berejiklian was appointed as Treasurer of New South Wales and Minister for Industrial Relations following a cabinet reshuffle announced on 1 April 2015 by Premier Baird , after the 2015 state election . As Treasurer , Berejiklian oversaw New South Waless return to surplus . This was the first time New South Wales had been declared debt-free in more than 20 years . She also oversaw the part-privatisation of the states electricity network . Premier of New South Wales ( 2017–present ) . First term . Following the resignation of Mike Baird as NSW Liberal leader and Premier on 19 January 2017 , Berejiklian announced her intention to succeed him as the leader of the Liberal Party , and hence to become the 45th Premier of New South Wales . Baird endorsed Berejiklian as his successor , declaring that she would be an outstanding Premier.. . No doubt about it . A deal was struck between the moderate , centre-right , and right factions of the Liberal Party , facilitating the moderate Berejiklians rise to the leadership , with conservative Dominic Perrottet as her deputy . The next day , ministers Andrew Constance and Rob Stokes—Berejiklians only serious leadership challengers—decided not to contest the leadership , and instead opted to endorse Berejiklian . This left Berejiklian to take the leadership unopposed at the ensuing leadership contest held on 23 January . She was duly sworn in as Premier later that day , becoming the second woman to hold the post . The first was Labors Kristina Keneally , who served in the position from 2009 to 2011 . In October 2018 , Berejiklian permitted advertising for The Everest stakes to be projected onto the sails of the Sydney Opera House ( a move spearheaded by radio broadcaster Alan Jones ) , drawing widespread condemnation and criticism from many in the community , with a poll declaring that 80% of respondents opposed this decision . Second term . Berejiklian led the Coalition into the 2019 state election , becoming the third woman to take a major party into an election in NSW . With polls showing the race at a knife-edge , the Coalition suffered a swing of six seats , cutting its numbers down to 48 seats , a majority of two . This made Berejiklian the third woman to lead a party to a victory at a state election in Australia , after Anna Bligh and Annastacia Palaszczuk from Queensland , and the first non-Labor woman to lead a party to a state election victory in Australia . In August–September 2019 Berejiklian expressed support for the Reproductive Health Care Reform Bill , a private members bill aimed to decriminalise abortion in New South Wales . Berejiklian allowed a conscience vote on the bill in her party . Many conservative parliamentarians of the Liberal Party opposed the bill . Three of these parliamentarians , MP Tanya Davies and Legislative Council members Matthew Mason-Cox and Lou Amato , expressed dissatisfaction with Berejiklians handling of the bill . They had repeatedly asked Berejiklian to intervene to stop the fast-tracking of the bill and establish a joint select committee into the legislation reform . However , their requests were rejected by Berejiklian . On 16 September 2019 , the trio announced they would hold a party leadership spill motion against Berejiklian the following day . Senior ministers , including conservative ministers who opposed the bill , backed Berejiklian and condemned the actions of the trio . The right-wing faction of the party also clarified that they did not sanction the spill . The trio called off the spill the next morning , after the trio claimed to have received further concessions on amendments to the bill , meaning their amendments would be considered in the debate in the Legislative Council . The bill eventually passed Parliament with amendments on 26 September 2019 and came into force as the Abortion Law Reform Act 2019 on 2 October 2019 . In October 2020 , as part of her evidence to an Independent Commission Against Corruption inquiry , Berejiklian admitted that she had been in a close personal relationship with Daryl Maguire from 2015 until August 2020 . Maguire had been a fellow Liberal MP until a previous inquiry had heard that he had sought inappropriate payments , leading to his resignation in 2018 . As a result , a vote of no-confidence was taken in parliament . She survived the vote in the lower house with 47–38 , and in the upper house with 21–20 , after a deciding vote from the Liberal president . Personal life . Berejiklian supports the Australian republican movement . She regularly attends events of the Armenian Apostolic Church .