by Doubts continue to swirl around the idea that former NSW premier Gladys Berejiklian will take over the top job at Optus after its chief executive stepped down.
The former head of the embattled telecommunications company, Kelly Bayer Rosmarin, announced he was stepping down on Monday after overseeing two major crises in just 13 months.
Optus parent company Singtel has launched a global search for her replacement, but some suggest they won't have to look far, with Ms Berejiklian currently working for the company.
NCA NewsWire understands the former prime minister expressed interest in the role after becoming responsible for managing the company's business clients in early 2022.
However, any decision to promote Ms Berejiklian could be seen as risky after she was found to have been involved in serious corruption by the NSW Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) for working with former partner Daryl Maguire, then MP for Wagga Wagga.
While Ms Berejiklian is appealing the findings, many say the ICAC rulings mean she is unlikely to be considered for the top job.
While the decision would ultimately be made by the Optus board, Greens senator Sarah Hanson-Young questioned Ms Berejiklian's role, saying she wanted someone who “understands that we need better regulation and work with the government, not against it.” them”.
“I think Gladys is going to have to get other things off the table before she can move forward,” he said on the Today show.
“What I want to see is someone who puts the public interest first, is honest and has integrity.”
Ms. Berejiklian remained silent on the matter, ignoring reporters' questions Tuesday as she headed to work.
Optus CFO Michael Venter has taken over as acting chief executive as Singtel looks for a replacement for Ms Bayer Rosmarin, who many say could take the top job.
Ms Bayer Rosmarin's resignation comes two weeks after a nationwide Optus outage left 10 million Australians without phone or internet for more than 12 hours.
More than 400,000 businesses were unable to receive payments due to the outage, and transport and health services were thrown into chaos after the country's second-largest television company went dark at 4am.
The company and its then chief executive were criticized for failing to communicate with customers as the hours went down, with Communications Minister Michelle Rowland expressing her disappointment with the national broadcaster as it happened.
“Optus has not given an exact time frame. They have assured me that they are working as quickly as possible, but again it is important for Optus to update customers and in a timely manner because these are exactly the questions that customers are asking,” he said.
“I think Optus need to make sure they step it up and get in touch with people because from what I understand it started early this morning.”
Senator Hanson-Young said any replacement would need to be more communicative with the public.
“Whoever takes it really needs to rebuild trust, be a good communicator and understand that at the end of the day you're providing a service that's essential,” he said.
“We need a complete overhaul of the regulations of these big telecommunications companies … Every part of our daily lives will be affected if we can't use our cell phones or the Internet.”
