PM says Gladys is welcome to stand

PRIME Minister Scott Morrison said the treatment of Gladys Berejiklian by the NSW corruption watchdog had been “shameful” and the former NSW premier would be “very welcome” to join his federal Coalition team.

As speculation mounts about whether Ms Berejiklian is genuinely considering a return to politics with a tilt at the Sydney seat of Warringah in next year’s election, Mr Morrison said he had “no doubt” whatever she chose to do with her life, “she will be a great success”.

“She will make her own decision in her own time about what she would like to do,” he said. “If she wished to join our team, she would be very welcome.”

Mr Morrison condemned the methods used by the NSW Independent Commission Against Corruption as it investigated a potential breach of the ministerial code of conduct by Ms Berejiklian (pictured), who did not declare a conflict of interest from her relationship with disgraced MP Daryl Maguire.

“We have seen plenty of these things and recordings of private conversations detailed intimate things that were paraded around in the media,” Mr Morrison said. “What was that about? Was that about shaming Gladys Berejiklian? I thought that was awful.”

He said Ms Berejiklian was a “person of great integrity”.

“If she wants to have a crack at Warringah for the Liberal Party, I suspect the people would welcome that in Warringah,” he said. “We will let the people decide.”

Mr Morrison said he believed many of his “fellow residents” in NSW would agree the way Ms Berejiklian was treated publicly by ICAC was not fair.

Senior Liberals have confirmed Ms Berejiklian has been approached to run in Warringah, a once-safe seat that was held by former prime minister Tony Abbott until he lost to independent Zali Steggall in 2019.