James O’Doherty: Gladys Berejiklian’s evidence at odds with public image

The evidence given to the Independent Commission Against Corruption by former Premier Gladys Berejiklian goes against her public image, writes James O’Doherty.

In 2017, Gladys Berejiklian disclosed to the Department of Premier and Cabinet that two of her first cousins were employed by the NSW Public Service — which has a workforce of some 400,000 people.

The disclosure — and three instances identified on Monday where she abstained from Cabinet discussions due to a potential conflict of interest — raise questions about why she never declared she was in a ­secret relationship with former Wagga Wagga MP Daryl ­Maguire.

Former New South Wales Premier Gladys Berejiklian is being investigated by ICAC. Picture: AFP

The question of whether Ms Berejiklian would have been required to disclose her ties with Mr Maguire has dogged the former Premier since the “close personal relationship” was revealed at an ICAC ­hearing last year.

At the time, she said the relationship was not of “sufficient substance” to require disclosure.

That statement is set to be probed by the corruption watchdog in two weeks of public hearings into her conduct.

Also set to be probed by the commission is whether ­evidence given at a private ­hearing in September by Ms Berejiklian should be ­“accepted”.

Gladys Berejiklian’s former partner, Daryl Maguire. Picture: Dylan Robinson

Under uncomfortable questioning by counsel assisting Scott Robertson SC, Ms Berejiklian repeatedly said she “didn’t know” whether she “suspected” Mr Maguire of being engaged in corrupt conduct when she asked him to quit in June 2018.

“I didn’t know what to think. I didn’t, I didn’t, I didn’t have enough detail. I hadn’t read what was happening,” Ms Berejiklian said.

The then-Premier was rendered almost speechless by the precise and repeated questions about what she “suspected” rather than what she “knew”.

She eventually said “no” to the question of whether she suspected at the time that Mr Maguire was engaged in corrupt conduct. The evidence is at odds with Ms Berejiklian’s public image as a micromanager obsessed with details.