Deputy Chief Minister Yvette Berry has resigned from cabinet in the wake of a corruption finding against her former chief of staff, saying she did not want a circus and would leave cabinet with her own integrity intact.
Ms Berry, the territory's longest serving deputy chief minister, confirmed her resignation in a statement after 3.15pm, hours after a corruption report made serious findings against her former chief of staff and the former head of the Education Directorate.
Ms Berry said she took full responsibility for the finding made against her staff, but said she would leave cabinet with her integrity and moral compass intact.
"You know I have never backed down from responsibility, even when it gets hard. And this is no doubt hard. I have made this decision because I don't want a parliamentary public circus to follow this report," Ms Berry said in the statement.
"My family don't deserve that, and my colleagues don't deserve that. And I have no intention of giving the opposition and the Greens political party that satisfaction. I am confident that the government has learned from the Commission's findings. I hope that all members of the Legislative Assembly read the report and learn from it too."
Chief Minister Andrew Barr told a press conference he had accepted Ms Berry's resignation and apologised to Canberrans for the behaviour of those found to have engaged in corrupt conduct by the watchdog.
The government acknowledged the seriousness of the findings and would take further action following the release of the report, he said.
"We've put in place mechanisms to ensure that what happened in this instance couldn't happen again, but it wasn't a systemic issue, it was the behaviour of an individual particularly," Mr Barr said.
Mr Barr said he was very disappointed and sad for Ms Berry, who he said had been badly let down, but the standards were clear.
"I don't want ministers actively involved in live procurement, so I would have had no expectations that a Minister was down in the weeds of any particular procurement," he said.
Pressure had been mounting on Ms Berry to quit cabinet since the corruption findings were released on Thursday morning, with the Liberals, Greens and two independents - Fiona Carrick and Thomas Emerson - calling for the Deputy Chief Minister to go.
Opposition Leader Mark Parton had said the findings of corrupt conduct in a top staffer and official in the Education Directorate, which Ms Berry was responsible for as Education Minister, meant she needed to quit.
"If you can't trust those generals that the minister has appointed well I don't know who you can trust," Mr Parton said.
The ACT Integrity Commission released a long-awaited corruption investigation report on Thursday morning that found Ms Berry's former chief of staff and the former head of the Education Directorate engaged in serious corrupt conduct that provided a backdoor to prioritise the interests of a major union.
Ms Berry was elected to the Legislative Assembly in 2012, was promoted to cabinet after Katy Gallagher resigned as chief minister, and has served as deputy chief minister since October 31, 2016.
"I am confident that the government has learned from the commission's findings. I hope that all members of the Legislative Assembly read the report and learn from it, too," she said.
"The Chief Minister has been a great support to me over many years. And I thank him for that. I'd like to thank my family, for their unwavering love and healthy sense of perspective. And I'd like to thank my supporters, volunteers and staff. Without you, I would not have been able to achieve the things I have in this job."
Ms Berry pointed to free preschool for three-year-olds, free meals and Chromebooks for public school students, secure jobs for school cleaners and funding for elite female sports as among her achievements.
"I'm proud of what we've achieved together. We've made Canberra a fairer place. I leave this role with my integrity and my moral compass intact and look forward to continuing to achieve more wins for a more equitable Canberra," she said.
ACT Labor's caucus will meet on Monday to elect a new deputy leader and a new minister, with Mr Barr indicating he would have more to say about a cabinet reshuffle early next week.
"I always seek to have a collaborative process around the allocation of portfolios. So I wouldn't anticipate radical change, but I don't think it would just be a straight swap of portfolios," he said.
