Strange moment when the former health minister refers to Gladys Berejiklian as ‘Mother Teresa’ when she leaves politics after more than three decades.
- Brad Hazzard compares his ex-boss to ‘Mother Teresa’
- The former health minister was referring to Gladys Berejiklian
- He said Dominic Perrottet had a ‘difficult act to follow’
Former Health Minister Brad Hazzard compared Gladys Berejiklian to Mother Teresa in a rare interview on election night as she announces her retirement from politics.
Hazzard, who is not contesting his Wakehurst seat in Sydney’s Northern Beaches, made the comparison as polls closed for the New South Wales state election.
“I have to tell you, I was 100 percent behind Dom, but when you come off the back of Gladys Berejiklian, Mother Teresa, it’s a tough act to follow,” she said.
‘And then really establishing yourself and then being able to do what you need to do, has been a huge challenge. But I think he’s done a great job.
Mr Hazzard worked closely with the former NSW Premier during the pandemic and both became familiar faces across the country during Covid press conferences.
He fiercely defended Ms. Berejiklian when she appeared on the front page of a newspaper without a mask during a lockdown coffee run in July 2021.
‘Oh really. Taking the opportunity to taste the private life of the prime minister by taking a photo when she was more than twice what we are now,” she said.
“We know that health orders are given as a guide to help the community get through a very difficult time.”
Mr Hazzard, who is not contesting his Wakehurst seat in Sydney’s Northern Beaches, made the comparison as polls closed for the New South Wales state election (pictured Saturday night)
Mr. Hazzard and Ms. Berejiklian worked closely together during the Covid pandemic (pictured in 2021)
Mr. Hazzard is just days away from retiring permanently from politics after serving his Northern Beaches community for 32 years.
He told Radio Northern Beaches that the pandemic had taken its toll on him.
“I think it’s fair to say that after 32 years I may have another four years on me, but Covid really, like so many people, had an impact on me,” he said.
‘The last three years have been more like 10 years. The concept of going back to work in the Health portfolio, in any portfolio really, is just too unwieldy.
‘I always felt like I would never go to an election unless I knew I would be there for the full four years. But I wasn’t sure I had that in me.
As of 8:00 pm Saturday, independent candidate Michael Regan was in the lead in what is expected to be a close race for the Wakehurst seat.
He had already won 51.2 percent of the bipartisan preferential vote with 13.1 percent of the votes counted.
Wakehurst’s Liberal candidate Toby Williams won 33 percent of the vote.
Regan, known for being popular with locals, vowed to bring “balance” back to parliament outside the voting booths on Saturday.
“We have to resolve what is happening there, there is the Lizard Rock issue at the local level, the private hospital that is not working, there are so many things,” he told reporters.
“But generally speaking, we have reforms in the game that need fixing. There’s a lot going on and I want to be a part of that change.’
It comes as the Labor Party clinch the state election with early indications that it will be a ‘landslide victory’.
ABC election analyst Antony Green said: “There will be a change in government,” noting that it is too early to say whether it will be a majority or a minority.
