New South Wales Premier Gladys Berejiklian Friday resigned because of an impending investigation by anti-corruption watchdog Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) over an undisclosed relationship with a former lawmaker. “I love my job … but I have been given no option,” Berejiklian said at a news conference on Friday as she announced her resignation. Berejiklian’s five-year relationship with Daryl Maguire became public last year when she gave evidence to an ICAC investigation into whether Maguire used his position for an improper benefit for himself and his associates.

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Berejiklian, who turned 51 on September 22, was born to Armenian immigrant parents, in Manly Hospital, Sydney. She has two younger sisters. Berejiklian spoke only Armenian until the age of five, according to a 2017 profile in The Sydney Morning Herald. Before her foray into politics, Berejiklian was on “track to become a top executive at the Commonwealth Bank.”

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She has served a term on the Armenian National Committee of Australia and attended a commemoration ceremony in Armenia’s capital Yerevan for the 100th anniversary of the Armenian genocide.

She has a Bachelor of Arts and a graduate diploma in international studies from the University of Sydney and a Masters in Commerce from the University of New South Wales. Berejiklian joined the Liberal Party in 1993 and served as the third female president of the New South Wales Young Liberals from 1997 to 1998.

She became the 44th premier of New South Wales in 2017, following the resignation of Mike Baird, and was re-elected to the post in 2019.

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Berejiklian served as the Treasurer of New South Wales and Minister for Industrial Relations in Baird’s government. ​Berejiklian has represented Willoughby in the New South Wales Legislative Assembly since 2003.

She was also the Deputy Leader of the New South Wales Liberal Party between 2014 and 2017.