Independent Commission Against Corruption probe’s findings into Gladys Berejiklian due within days
The Independent Commission Against Corruption is expected to hand down its report into Gladys Berejiklian in coming days.
NSW
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Former Premier Gladys Berejiklian has been seen leaving the home of her boyfriend Arthur Moses as she awaits the imminent findings of the corruption probe that ended her political career.
Ms Berejiklian was straight-faced while avoiding cameras as she got into her car on Wednesday morning leaving the $7.2 million property on Sydney’s north shore owned by Mr Moses.
Her departure appears to confirm speculation that the pair have moved in together, after Ms Berejiklian’s Northbridge home was recently rented out a week after being listed for $1250 per week.
The Independent Commission Against Corruption is set to hand down its report looking at Ms Berejiklian’s conduct as early as this week.
The report into Operation Keppel has been beset by delays, with the ICAC forced in January to announce the findings would not be ready until after the March election.
The Daily Telegraph on Monday revealed that the commissioner in charge of the probe has earned more than $1.1 million for her work presiding over the operation since 2020.
The staggering amount paid to Ruth McColl SC has raised fresh questions about why the ICAC yet to hand down its report into Ms Berejiklian and her former lover Daryl Maguire.
The delay has incensed Coalition MPs, some of whom believe the report may have changed the outcome of the state election earlier this year.
“Given the unprecedented delay in this inquiry, I think taxpayers are entitled to ask whether they’ve got value for money out of this process,” a senior Coalition source told The Daily Telegraph.
The Commission has defended its work on the matter, including that of the commissioner, putting the delay down to the sheer complexity of the investigation, both factually and legally.
ICAC has been investigating whether Ms Berejiklian breached public trust by “exercising public functions” while having a conflict of interest based on her personal relationship with Mr Maguire.
It is also probing whether Ms Berejiklian should have reported Mr Maguire’s conduct to the ICAC and whether she should have disclosed her relationship with the former MP.
Ms Berejiklian’s handling of proposed government grants for a gun club and a music Conservatorium in the Wagga Wagga electorate while the in a relationship with Mr Maguire is also under the spotlight.
Ms Berejiklian has denied all wrongdoing during and since the inquiry and insisted that her relationship with Mr Maguire had not impacted her professional duties.
Ms Berejiklian sensationally revealed that she had been in a “close personal relationship” with Mr Maguire during an ICAC hearing in 2020.
In hearings in 2021, Ms Berejiklian agreed that she loved Mr Maguire, and they had considered marriage and children. They had spoken about him quitting parliament and then making their relationship public.
Ms Berejiklian said Mr Maguire was part of her “love circle” but said she did not consider him part of her “family” in the “legal sense”.
She told the ICAC that she would not disclose her relationship with Mr Maguire if she had her time again.
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