Premier’s secret relationship with Daryl Maguire: How ministers reacted
Premier Gladys Berejiklian sent out a message to her inner circle on Monday as she prepared to take the stand at ICAC. But none of them was prepared for the bombshell about to drop.
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“Today is going to be a horrific day for me” – that was the message Premier Gladys Berejiklian gave her closest ministers and advisers on Monday morning as she prepared to take the stand at the NSW Independent Commission Against Corruption on Monday.
But apart from having to endure the intense media scrutiny that would come from a premier appearing before ICAC, the thought the Liberal leader would be revealing a secret love affair with “Dodgy Daryl” Maguire was the last thing that crossed their minds.
As a result, everybody was left scrambling when the secret was out.
Poor Agriculture Minister Adam Marshall was left by the side of the road after Energy and Environment Minister Matt Kean ditched him in his haste to get back to Sydney from a job they had been on out bush.
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Kean had been planning to drive Marshall to Port Macquarie Airport after the pair – along with Water Minister Melinda Pavey, who was in a separate car – wrapped up a billion-dollar pumped hydro project announcement.
Being “in the middle of nowhere”, the trio had been without phone reception for much of the morning, Kean said. Upon re-entering civilisation, Kean’s phone “went nuclear”.
“It said I had 82 missed calls and texts,” he said.
Aborting plans to fly back to Sydney so that he could remain in range – at the same time dumping Marshall’s bags out on the road – Kean put his foot down towards Sydney.
Over at the Castle Hill Country Club, Police Minister David Elliott was enjoying his first day off in weeks with a game of golf.
Invited to have a swing by a constituent, Elliott said he was about to celebrate his “first birdie” when his phone went in to meltdown.
“It was a very quick celebration,” he said of the golf.
Transport Minister Andrew Constance was being driven back to Sydney from his Bega electorate when his chief-of-staff Stuart Wallace called. But his boss was already wised up, having been listening to the hearing in the car.
Health Minister Brad Hazzard and Corrective Services Minister Anthony Roberts cancelled plans for a press conference at Gladesville Hospital that day, while every else cleared their diaries.
A SLAGGING OFF
And while everyone was trying to get their head around their boss having a secret relationship with ICAC’s star witness last week, two senior Liberals were choking on their cereal for other reasons.
During an informal catch-up with the Premier not long after she was forced to sack him in 2018, the pair “openly slagged off” Maguire in front of his then-lover.
“We were just going for it,” one Liberal said. “Glad was just sitting there. No wonder she never told us.”
ALBO IN TROUBLE WITH ELECTORAL COMMISSION
Anthony Albanese has been forced to delete a tweet supporting Kiwi PM Jacinda Ardern’s re-election after it breached New Zealand’s “no election-day political campaigning on social media” rules.
“My very best wishes to my friend Jacinda Ardern and NZ Labor for the general election today #VoteLabor,” the since deleted tweet read.
The mishap was picked up by New Zealand Electoral Commission on Saturday morning as the federal Opposition Leader was giving a speech to the NSW Labor Party convention.
“Kia ora Anthony – in New Zealand we have rules against promoting parties or candidates on social media on election day. Could you please remove this tweet until after 7pm New Zealand time?” the commission replied in a tweet.
Mr Albanese’s office was contacted for comment.
It is understood the tweet was live for three hours before it was deleted.
The bungle came as the federal Labor leader used his speech at the virtual NSW Labor Party convention to continue his attack on the federal government’s coronavirus budget.
Speaking to Labor members tuning in online for the party’s first virtual convention on Saturday, Mr Albanese lashed what he described as the “Morrison recession” as companies across the state grapple with the pandemic’s economic fallout.
“We needed a budget that maintained support for those who needed it most while setting up our nation for an economic recovery,” he said.
“Instead Scott Morrison withdrew support for unemployed Australians and offered us an incoherent grab bag of disconnected ideas largely focused on creating photo opportunities.”
- by Anton Rose
LABOR BRAND
It was established with great fanfare under former premier Bob Carr but The Sauce hears there are plans under way to dismantle “Country Labor”.
It would make sense, given that the number of regional Labor MPs can be counted on one hand.
Just how serious the moves are is not known, although one Labor insider claims the exceedingly secretive Sussex Street has racked up thousands of dollars of legal bills seeking advice on whether to proceed.
GHOST WRITER
He was Bill Shorten’s former speechwriter and adviser, but Canberra moles say James Newton was also enlisted by Labor leader Anthony Albanese’s office to help with the budget reply.
When The Sauce investigated, we were told Albo wrote his own speech. However, it was agreed that others may have “thrown in lines”.
Given Prime Minister Scott Morrison last week pushed the line that his opposite was “a reheat of Bill Shorten” on tax, the sensitivity is understandable.
Newton, who was with Shorten during the 2016 and 2019 campaigns, recently wrote in defence of his old boss’s policy agenda — despite it being rejected by the Australian public at the last election.
“I still don’t believe we were wrong,” he said last year.
BAND BRAG
A debate about a “right to play music bill” ended up turning into a bragging session over what bands MPs had seen over the years.
However, The Sauce wonders if Greens MLC Cate Faehrmann now regrets admitting she snuck out of boarding school to attend a – wait for it – Kids in the Kitchen concert — in her youth.
She redeems herself by listing an impressive back catalogue of bands she saw in the following years, ranging from Sonic Youth to Nirvana.
The most embarrassing confession came from Labor MLC Rose Jackson, who – while speaking in support of the bill – admitted she had only ever seen one band.
“I do not really like live music,” she said. “I have been to one concert, it was Alanis Morissette.” (Yes, someone yelled out: “How ironic!”)
Ms Jackson said she had been to “a lot of Wiggles concerts” and also “Disney on Ice”, but said she’d much rather spend her time “sitting around a dinner table talking” than listening to live music.
That said, Ms Jackson said she backed any moves to support Sydney’s arts and culture scene.
One Nation MLC Rod Roberts spoke of his Friday nights out with his mates watching bands such as AC/DC while decked out in their going-out “Hawaiian shirts”, Levi jeans and “desert boots” at venues such as Sweethearts in Cabramatta or the Sundowner Hotel in Punchbowl.
Liberal MLC Natalie Ward spoke of how she saw INXS play “and subsequently meet one of the band”.
“I think my mouth dropped to the ground,” she recalled. “I was quite delighted.”
Needless to say, the bill passed the Upper House.
Got some Sauce? Contact linda.silmalis@news.com.au