“Why do you do what Gladys says and not what I say?”: Perrottet says he and wife joked over ICAC evidence

NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet says his wife and he have joked over evidence presented at the corruption inquiry involving Gladys Berejiklian.

NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet has been largely silent on Gladys Berejiklian’s ICAC travails, but he admits his wife and he have joked over bombshell phone evidence provided this week.

In a tapped 2018 phone call played at the Independent Commission Against Corruption on Friday, Ms Berejiklian could be heard discussing money requests by her then-secret boyfriend, Wagga Wagga MP Daryl Maguire.

On one call, Mr Maguire told her he’d “talked to the Treasurer” and asked “how’s my hospital … am I getting my $170 million?”.

Later, Ms Berejiklian said: “I’ve already gotten you the Wagga hospital.”

Mr Perrottet made an appearance at the The Daily Telegraph Bush Summit, where he made a quip about Gladys Berejiklian’s ICAC evidence. Picture: Toby Zerna

“I just spoke to Dom, and I said just put the (money) in the budget. He goes ’No worries’. He just does what I ask him to do.”

Ms Berejiklian has denied any wrongdoing, while Mr Perrottet has consistently avoided speaking on the events heard at the inquiry, or his predecessor, before its conclusion.

That was, until The Daily Telegraph’s Bush Summit on Friday.

Footage shows the Premier acknowledging he and his wife Helen had shared a joke over his name being mentioned in the taped conversations.

NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet says his wife jokingly asked him "why do you do what Gladys tells you to do and not what I tell you to do?" following his predecessor's explosive evidence at ICAC this week.

“My wife messaged me this morning and said ’why do you do what Gladys tells you to do and not what I tell you to do?” he told Daily Tele deputy editor Anna Caldwell.

Former NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian pictured after leaving her gym in Northbridge with her boyfriend Arthur Moses. Pictures by Julian Andrews.

Both shared a laugh, and then Mr Perrottet repeated that he would not be addressing the matter.

The counsel assisting the ICAC, Scott Robertson, on Friday said there was no suggestion Mr Perrottet had acted improperly.

“There’s no suggestion in any of the material before this commission, in this investigation of any improper conduct on the part of (Mr Perrottet), I just thought I should make that clear,” Mr Robertson said.

At a press conference on Friday Mr Perrottet said he would not be giving a running commentary.

Daily Telegraph deputy editor Anna Caldwell and NSW Treasurer Dominic Perrottet. Picture: Toby Zerna

“That would be incredibly prejudicial as public hearings are underway and the independent commission will continue to do its work,” he told reporters

“And ultimately, if there‘s anything the government needs to act on, arising out of those public inquiries, we will.“

The ICAC is investigating whether Ms Berejiklian breached the public’s trust in the course of her relationship with Mr Maguire, including whether she had a conflict of interest in handling money requests by him without disclosing their relationship.

With Anton Nilsson