Retail king Gerry Harvey says Daryl Maguire could have been a rich businessman
Retail behemoth Gerry Harvey remembers Daryl Maguire as ‘a good salesman’ who made good money during the decade he was a Harvey Norman franchisee, but says the disgraced MP’s foray into politics has left him ‘completely ruined … a tragic figure’.
NSW
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If only Daryl Maguire had stayed a furniture salesman, he would have been a rich and well-respected man.
His series of failed schemes to make money might have seen him drummed out of politics and hauled before the Independent Commission Against Corruption, but retail king Gerry Harvey could see a different future for his former top salesman.
The Harvey Norman boss was consistently impressed by Maguire’s sales figures for the 10 years he knew him.
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“He was a good salesman, a good franchisee and he made reasonably good money at the time,” Mr Harvey said.
“He was up there among our better salesmen.
“He left of his own accord because he wanted to go into politics. Now he’s worth no money, has completely ruined himself and is just a tragic figure.”
Those who knew the young Maguire recall a man with a charming persona and plenty of ambition.
When he landed an apprenticeship at a Griffith car mechanic, his persuasive personality saw him moved from the workshop to the front office before he could even complete his training.
Maguire would go on to run a string of homewares and electrical stores in the Riverina town before taking over a Harvey Norman furniture franchise in Wagga Wagga, which he ran at a very healthy profit for a decade.
The star sofa salesman was convinced to try his hand at politics by Wagga Wagga lawyer Galva Nitschke in 1999.
Mr Nitschke was a passionate greyhound owner, which would later prove ironic when Maguire would passionately defend the Liberal government of Mike Baird, when it called for a ban on the sport. Even more ironically, this was the issue that ended Baird and brought Gladys Berejiklian to the top job.
The Riverina loves its dishlickers, so much so that Katrina Hodgkinson, who was the Nationals MP in the neighbouring electorate of Cootamundra, sacrificed her parliamentary secretary role to cross the floor and vote against the ban.
Maguire’s position was the ban was the only way to stamp out “abhorrent cruelty” in the industry.
But his stance outraged many locals, some of whom claim Maguire was instead motivated by a dispute with his neighbour, a greyhound breeder.
“The trainer next door wasn’t doing anything wrong but the greyhounds just annoyed Daryl,” Wagga and District Greyhound Racing Club chief executive John Patton.
“You wouldn’t meet a better bloke than Daryl’s neighbour and there was nothing to warrant any complaint.
“Daryl knew at the time the majority of our electorate were in favour of greyhound racing but he was so annoyed with his neighbour’s greyhounds that he kept telling us it was time for the industry to be shut down. Every dog has their day and we’re just sitting back and (watching) what’s happening to him now.”
And his political foes claim he is not a man to cross.
Wagga Liberal party branch member Andrew Negline fought and lost a bruising preselection against Daryl Maguire in 2012. “He is a great salesman but … once he does someone a favour, he always wants payback,” he said.
Negline claims Maguire’s supporters made it very clear Maguire was one of four Liberals who “ran the state” — the other three being then-premier Barry O’Farrell, Gladys Berejiklian and Arts Minister Don Harwin — and he was told in no uncertain terms to withdraw.