Gladys Berejiklian reveals how she deals with her anti-vax friends and family while denying the singles bubble had anything to do with her new boo Arthur Moses
- Ms Berejiklian said family members have questioned her about Covid response
- ‘I have people close to me who have strong views,’ she said on Thursday morning
- The NSW premier said she had to spell out to her loved ones ‘what the facts are’
- Dodged questions over whether singles bubble motivated by her new romance
- ‘Can we get off that topic,’ she said when asked if she is living with Arthur Moses
Gladys Berejiklian has opened up about trying to educate her anti-vaxxer friends and family about the benefits of Sydney’s lockdown – before sidestepping questions about the impact of her ‘singles bubble’ on her new romance.
The New South Wales premier said some of her own loved ones questioned her about hitting the city with stay-at-home restrictions to slow the spread of the highly contagious Delta strain.
‘I have people close to me who have strong views and I’ve explained to them what the facts are,’ she told KIIS FM’s Kyle and Jackie O show on Thursday when co-host Kyle Sandilands asked her about her state’s battle against anti-vaccination rhetoric.
‘This Delta variant is taking over the world. Even countries with 50 per cent vaccination rates are seeing a huge number of cases and people in hospital.’
Sandilands also asked her if a new rule allowing Sydney couples to visit each other’s homes as part of a ‘singles bubble’ was motivated by her new relationship with high-flying lawyer Arthur Moses.
‘Did you invent the singles bubble for your new boyfriend situation?’ Sandilands asked.
Ms Berejiklian appeared to suggest she was living with Mr Moses when she replied her situation was already ‘covered’ by the existing rules.
‘This is for people who genuinely live on their own,’ she said – prompting Sandilands to ask if her boyfriend had moved in with her.
‘No… can we just get off that topic,’ she replied abruptly.
She then scolded Sandilands when he asked whether the new rule for couples meant ‘you can book into the Meriton with your “buddy”‘.
‘No… come on, Kyle,’ the premier said. ‘This is for mental health reasons to keep people as healthy and happy as possible.’
The interview came just hours before Ms Berejiklian announced Sydney had 239 Covid-19 cases in the 24 hours to 8pm Wednesday.
NSW announced 177 cases for the 24 hours to 8pm Tuesday as authorities extended Greater Sydney’s lockdown and banned non-essential workers from leaving three more government areas in Sydney’s west and south-west.
Kyle Sandilands (left) and Jackie Henderson (right) interviewed Ms Berejiklian (centre) on Thursday on their KIIS FM radio show. The premier said even some of her own loved ones questioned her about sending the city into lockdown
The New South Wales premier’s relationship with high-profile barrister Arthur Moses was confirmed in June through an Instagram post shared by her sister (pictured)
Essential exercise: A Sydneysider is pictured strolling through Centennial Park in the city’s east during lockdown on Wednesday
Meanwhile, nine young people including eight teenagers from the west and southwestern Sydney areas under the toughest lockdown are accused of breaking stay-at-home orders and becoming involved in a high-speed pursuit with police in the Hunter region.
NSW Police say the teens were travelling in a Honda Civic and clocked driving 200km/h in a 110km zone. A woman 19, and two teens – aged between 13 and 17 – have been charged over the incident on Wednesday while the others will be dealt with under the Young Offenders Act.
Each has been fined $1000 for breaching the health orders.
Just who is Gladys Berejiklian’s new ‘boo’? Arthur Moses is a fitness fanatic legal powerhouse who freely admits he’s ‘annoying’
A well-placed source in Australia’s legal fraternity told Daily Mail Australia Mr Moses was ‘held in high esteem’ by his colleagues and is very well respected.
‘Lawyers who work with him regard him as meticulous and methodical,’ the source said.
‘He is very structured and disciplined and conducts his practice in a quasi-military style.’
Mr Moses is an esteemed Sydney lawyer who also has a passion for fitness and the Parramatta Eels
As well as his dedication to his legal work – which has seen him serve as the president of both the NSW Bar Association and Law Council of Australia – Mr Moses is a fitness junkie.
‘He is very keen on personal fitness, he’s extremely fit and runs up to 10km most days,’ the source said.
‘That makes you a little sharper, able to focus and cope with long hours by having that sort of fitness balance.
‘He really is one of the most methodical and meticulous in the law – very rigorous and focused in his work.’
In an article dating back to 2017, the barrister described himself as ‘persistent, loyal and annoying’.
Mr Moses has been practising law for more than 25 years and is currently representing Ben Roberts-Smith (pictured together) in his defamation trial against Nine newspapers
He also revealed his deep love for the Parramatta Eels NRL club, saying his happiest moments were when the team was winning grand finals in the 1980s.
When asked what his favourite song was he responded ‘Midnight Oil’s ‘Beds are Burning” and said that in the event his life was to be turned into a movie he’d want ‘Mr Bean’ star Rowan Atkinson to play himself.
But Mr Moses almost lived a completely different life and revealed his father wanted him to be a mechanic and leave school at the age of 15.
‘My mother persuaded him that I should be allowed to finish school,’ he said in the article with legal magazine Justinian.
He credited his late mother as the most influential person in his life.
‘She could not read or write but was the wisest and strongest person I have known,’ he said.