ICAC investigation into former premier Gladys Berejiklian begins

Gladys Berejiklian’s secret boyfriend, Daryl Maguire, put bureaucrats “under pressure” to hand over millions of dollars to a Wagga Wagga gun club, ICAC has heard.

James O'Doherty and Perry Duffin

7 min read

October 18, 2021 - 7:02PM

Gladys Berejiklian resigns as NSW Premier in shock announcement

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Gladys Berejiklian’s secret boyfriend, Daryl Maguire, put bureaucrats “under pressure” to hand over millions of dollars to a Wagga Wagga gun club, the anti-corruption investigation has heard.

In evidence to the Independent Commission Against Corruption, Office of Sport director Michael Toohey said he was “trying to understand the rush” around putting together a draft submission for funding for the club in Maguire’s electorate.

Then-NSW Treasurer Berejiklian’s office had asked for the submission to go before cabinet’s expenditure review committee before Christmas 2016, the ICAC heard.

Premier Mike Baird’s office initially asked the Office of Sport whether it could wait until the new year but then suddenly changed its tune, Mr Toohey said on Monday.

Mr Toohey said things would have gone differently had he known Ms Berejiklian and Mr Maguire were secretly in a relationship at that time.

Gladys Berejiklian with Daryl Maguire.

“Why were we pushing a grant, an allocation of funds, through to a local member based on such scant and inadequate information … for someone who was in a personal relationship with the Treasurer?” Mr Toohey said.

“I can’t see how it can be anything other than a conflict of interest.”

Mr Toohey told the ICAC he was asked by then-Sports Minister Stuart Ayres’ office to prepare a draft cabinet submission for the Australian Clay Target Association grant in just one day.

That was “extremely unusual,” Mr Toohey said.

“For something to be done in a day, it was unusual circumstances,” he said. He couldn’t recall it happening before.

He agreed with Counsel Assisting the Commission Scott Robertson that the application was outside standard procedure and appeared to be “fast forwarding” through the normal stages.

Some parts of the application “didn’t stack up” but the funding was ultimately flagged for approval under certain conditions, the ICAC heard.

Then, the ICAC heard, Maguire released a statement to the press saying $5.5 million was on the way for the gun club.

“Suddenly there it is in the media,” Mr Toohey said.

Mr Toohey said he was “extremely surprised” — his department hadn’t been briefed about the announcement.

Maguire’s announcement “put some pressure on the bureaucracy” to send out the money, Mr Toohey agreed.

“The bureaucracy had a process to reduce the financial risk to the government … It’s very, very hard for the government to do anything other than deliver the clubhouse,” he said.

“It makes it very difficult for someone to say no.”

Mr Toohey said the initial application mentioned the Invictus Games in reference to the grant.

But Mr Toohey said the Invictus Games don’t involve shooting events, so to claim the games were related to the gun club funding bid was “imaginative”.

He also raised concerns with the overall benefit of the grant to the state.

‘EXTREMELY UNUSUAL’ MOVE REVEALED AT ICAC HEARING

A government bureaucrat was asked to urgently prepare a draft cabinet submission for a grant to a Wagga Wagga gun club in an “extremely unusual” move.

In evidence to the Independent Commission Against Corruption, Office of Sport director Michael Toohey said he was asked to prepare a draft submission to cabinet’s expenditure review committee in just one day.

He also raised concerns with a “purported” business case contained in emails about the project, which he said was “inadequate”.

Giving evidence to the inquiry, Mr Toohey said there were deficiencies in assessing the benefit to cost ratio of the project.

Mr Toohey told the ICAC he was asked by then-Sports Minister Stuart Ayres’ office to prepare a draft cabinet submission for the Australian Clay Target Association grant in just one day.

Michael Toohey.

That was “extremely unusual,” Mr Toohey said.

“For something to be done in a day, it was unusual circumstances,” he said. He couldn’t recall it happening before.

He told the ICAC that usual analysis to support a draft submission to cabinet’s expenditure review committee hadn’t been done.

Something that “purported to be a business case” was contained in emails about the project but it was deficient.

“The economic analysis was … somewhat optimistic,” he said.

Elements of the proposal “didn’t stack up”.

Mr Toohey said the application mentioned the Invictus Games in reference to the grant.

But Mr Toohey said the Invictus Games don’t involve shooting events, so to claim the games were related to the gun club funding bid was “imaginative”.

He also raised concerns with the overall benefit of the grant to the state.

GLADYS’ PRIVATE TESTIMONY: ‘I WAS IN SHOCK’

Private testimony given by former premier Gladys Berejiklian to the Independent Commission Against Corruption has been played as part of an opening statement at a public hearing into her conduct.

In the private examination from September 18, Counsel Assisting Scott Robertson probed whether Ms Berejiklian “suspected that Mr Maguire had been or may have been engaged in corrupt conduct” when she asked for his resignation as a parliamentary secretary on July 13 2018.

Ms Berejiklian repeatedly said she “didn’t know” whether Mr Maguire was engaged in corrupt conduct.

“I was in shock. I didn’t know what to think. I didn’t, I didn’t, I didn’t have enough detail,” she said.

“I can’t remember what I thought at that time,” Ms Berejiklian said.

Former NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian said she “didn’t know” whether Mr Maguire was engaged in corrupt conduct. Picture: NCA NewsWire / James Gourley

Ms Berejiklian then replied “no” in response to repeated questioning.

“Did you at that point in time suspect that Mr Maguire, may have engaged in corrupt conduct?” Mr Robertson asked.

“No,” Ms Berejiklian said.

In his opening statement, Mr Robertson said “an issue arises as to whether the commission should accept that evidence just played, if not, to consider why Ms Berejiklian did not make a report to this commission concerning Mr Maguire”.

POTENTIAL CONFLICT ON INTEREST DECLARED OVER COUSINS’ ROLES

Gladys Berejiklian abstained from matters considered by cabinet three times after declaring a potential conflict of interest, documents tendered to the ICAC have revealed.

Ms Berejiklian also made a disclosure in 2017 under the Ministerial Code of Conduct to state that two of her first cousins had been employed in the public service.

“It has come to my attention that two of my first cousins are currently employed in the NSW Public Service,” Ms Berejiklian said in a letter sent to then-Department of Premier and Cabinet Secretary Tim Reardon.

She said both her cousins joined the public service before she became a Minister.

“At no stage have I ever worked with them in a professional capacity,” she said in the letter.

The declaration was identified by counsel assisting Scott Robertson as one of a range of occasions where Ms Berejiklian declared a potential conflict of interest.

THREE ALLEGATIONS LEVELLED AT BEREJIKLIAN

Public officials “would have acted differently” with regards to funding grants for certain Wagga Wagga projects if they had known former premier Gladys Berejiklian was in a “close personal relationship” with disgraced MP Daryl Maguire, a corruption inquiry has been told.

In his opening remarks, counsel assisting Scott Robertson set out the three “categories” of allegations which will be investigated by the ICAC.

“First allegations that Ms Berejiklian engaged in partial conduct or conduct constituting, involving, a breach of public trust in relation to certain projects in Wagga Wagga advanced by Mr Daryl Maguire,” Mr Robertson said.

“Secondly, an allegation that Ms Berejiklian refused to discharge her duty under the ICAC act to notify this commission of possible corrupt conduct.

“And thirdly, an allegation Ms Berejiklian engaged in conduct that was liable to allow or encourage the occurrence of corrupt conduct by Mr Maguire,” he said.

Central to the hearings will be an examination of whether Ms Berejiklian breached the ministerial code of conduct by failing to disclose her relationship with Mr Maguire.

Ms Berejiklian has denied any wrongdoing.

Gladys Berejiklian resigned as premier two weeks ago. Picture: Bianca De Marchi – Pool/Getty Images

“History will demonstrate that I have always executed my duties with the highest degree of integrity for the benefit of the people of NSW,” Ms Berejiklian said when announcing her resignation.

Mr Robertson identified three instances where Ms Berejiklian declared an interest in cabinet matters due to her relationships with certain individuals.

She never disclosed her relationship with Mr Maguire under the NSW ministerial code of conduct.

Mr Robertson said people are entitled to personal privacy but said “there are circumstances in which a person’s ordinary entitlement of privacy must be subordinated to their public duty”.

“Put another way, public duties come first,” he said.

We expect the evidence to demonstrate that various public officials were influenced in the steps that they took in relation to the building projects to be considered in his public inquiry by what those public officials understood to be Ms Berejiklian’s support for, or interest in, those projects,” Mr Robertson said.

“We also expect that there will be evidence to the effect that a number of public officials would have acted differently, had they known about Ms Berejiklian’s close personal relationship with Mr Maguire.

“It may mean that funding proposals advanced by Mr Maguire, may have been given a level of priority or attention that they may not have been given had Ms Berejiklian disclosed the existence of her personal relationship with Mr Maguire”.