Gladys Berejiklian faces ICAC a second time as anti-corruption probe continues
Gladys Berejiklian has spoken publicly for the first time after submitting to a two-day grilling from corruption investigators.
Gladys Berejiklian has spoken to reporters after her grilling by corruption investigators, telling the press she wants to move on with her life.
“It has been my honour and privilege to serve you in my role and public life ... every decision I took was in the public’s best interest,” she told reporters after Monday’s Independent Commission Against Corruption hearing.
“I don’t want to say too much more than that at this stage ... and now I intend to get on with my life and I want to thank everybody for their support.”
Her comments came at the conclusion of an 11-day public inquiry into her conduct as NSW treasurer and premier.
The ICAC is investigating whether she breached the public’s trust in the course of her secret relationship with an MP colleague.
In the final moments of her ICAC grilling, Ms Berejiklian denied an accusation of dishonesty levelled at her.
The imputation by a lawyer working for Ms Berejiklian’s former chief of staff was that she was dishonest when she said she told her staffer in 2018 that she was still in a secret relationship with an MP colleague.
Ms Berejiklian insists she would have told Sarah Cruickshank she was still dating Daryl Maguire.
Ms Cruickshank, in her evidence to the commission, said her then-boss told her the relationship had ended before she became NSW premier in January 2017.
“I suggest to you, Ms Berejiklian, that you’re not being honest about the discussion you had with (Sarah) Cruickshank,” barrister Hugh White said.
Ms Berejiklian shot back: “I've been honest in what I thought I remember what I do remember, and I appreciate that she has a different recollection.
“That’s not uncommon with two people who’ve had conversations three and a half years ago.”
The commission has heard Ms Berejiklian’s relationship with Mr Maguire, the former member for Wagga Wagga, went on in some form from at least 2015 until August 2020.
Ms Berejiklian kept the relationship secret from almost everyone until she testified before the Independent Commission Against Corruption in October last year.
But Ms Cruickshank was one of a handful of people who were aware of the relationship before then.
She was told by Ms Berejiklian on July 13, 2018 – the same day Mr Maguire was caught giving allegedly false evidence to the ICAC – that the two had been a couple.
In light of the fact the relationship continued for another three years, Ms Cruickshank told the commission last week she felt lied to.
Mr White cross-examined Ms Berejiklian on Monday afternoon and expressed his disbelief in Ms Berejiklian’s version of events.
Why, he asked her, would Ms Cruickshank, whom the former premier considered a friend as well as staffer, have advised her not to talk to Mr Maguire if she thought they were still a couple?
And why wouldn’t she have inquired about the relationship or invited Mr Maguire to join Ms Berejiklian at private functions at Ms Cruickshank’s home if she thought they were still a pair?
“That’s because it wasn’t a relationship that was sufficiently significant for me to share with people, so she wouldn’t have known to (invite him) because that wasn’t the type of relationship I had with Maguire,” Ms Berejiklian replied.
“That actually strengthens my case, as to the status of the relationship.”
Earlier in the hearing, part of a discussion about Ms Berejiklian’s conversation with Ms Cruickshank was conducted behind closed doors because some of the questions were of a private nature.
The ICAC’s live stream went off the air at about 11.20am and everyone but a select few individuals were told to leave the room where the hearing was being held.
Right before the hearing was taken off the air, Mr Robertson asked Ms Berejiklian if anyone had suggested to her it would be a good idea to disclose the relationship to Ms Cruickshank.
The hearing was back online about 11.45am.
During the public session on Monday, Ms Berejiklian told the ICAC she wasn’t paying attention when her secret boyfriend said he stood to make a $1.5 million commission from a deal with developers.
Testifying to the Independent Commission Against Corruption, the former NSW premier was shown evidence of conversations she had with Mr Maguire prior to his summons to the watchdog in 2018.
Recordings and transcripts of the private phone conversations showed Mr Maguire told her he had made representations on behalf of property developers.
He stood to gain money in relation to an airport deal nearly 500km from his Wagga Wagga electorate.
Mr Maguire claimed he would be able to clear a $1.5 million debt through a deal related to the planned western Sydney airport.
“I wasn't paying attention to that particular conversation,” Ms Berejiklian said of the phone call.
Another bugged phone call showed she was aware Mr Maguire had threatened to “go feral” and interrupt a government trade mission to China.
“That was his personality … I referred him to my office,” Ms Berejiklian said.
The conversations took place before Mr Maguire told Ms Berejiklian he had been subpoenaed to give testimony to the ICAC in July 2018.
But Ms Berejiklian said she had no reason to suspect Mr Maguire was misusing his position as an MP to enrich himself.
“I didn’t have that concern,” Ms Berejiklian said.
“I can't really say what I thought at the time, or what I understood, but I certainly can tell you unequivocally that I did not assume any wrongdoing.”
However, after Mr Maguire testified to the ICAC – an interview during which Mr Maguire was caught allegedly giving false evidence – she became concerned Mr Maguire had lied to her.
Specifically, she came to believe Mr Maguire had lied about the “cloud of suspicion” around him, and said she was “shocked” about his evidence to the commission.
Ms Berejiklian was questioned by the ICAC commissioner, Ruth McColl, about why she didn’t at that point contact the commission to share the information she had about Mr Maguire.
“If you're told, ‘I’ve done nothing wrong, don’t worry about it, it’s all going to be fine’ – and I asked him several times – I don’t even think I absorb that information. I wouldn’t have retained it because he gave me an assurance,” Ms Berejiklian said.
Ms Berejiklian said she racked her brain to think whether she knew any information that would be relevant to the ICAC, but decided she didn’t.
“The question I asked myself at length is, did I know anything that I could help with the Commission in their investigations? And the answer very strongly in my mind was I didn’t,” Ms Berejiklian said.
Ms Berejiklian was also shown text messages from Mr Maguire where he recommended she download an encrypted messaging app and get a private phone.
The texts were sent shortly after Mr Maguire told Ms Berejiklian he had been contacted by the ICAC.
“OK I'll try! What about (WhatsApp)? That’s easy too … I'll do it tomorrow as don’t know my password for apps,” Ms Berejiklian replied.
In response to the suggestion she get a private phone, Ms Berejiklian replied: “OK. Is everything OK?”
However, she told the commission she never got a private phone.
“I didn't even bother getting a private phone,” she said.
“I didn’t bother taking any of those actions because I’m completely comfortable with who I am and what I’ve done, and my record, so I had no reason to be concerned.”
Ms Berejiklian was back in the hot seat at the ICAC by 9am on Monday.
The question-and-answer session quickly got heated, with Ms Berejiklian accusing the counsel assisting the ICAC of “putting words in (her) mouth” and the former premier requiring a reminded to answer the questions directly.
She sat through nearly five hours of intense questions on Friday, but ICAC was not done quizzing her over her conduct in office.
The anti-corruption body is investigating whether Ms Berejiklian had a conflict of interest in the course of a secret relationship with Mr Maguire.
The ICAC is also investigating whether Ms Berejiklian failed in her duty to report suspected corruption, and whether she encouraged such behaviour by turning a blind eye.
Ms Berejiklian denies she did anything wrong.
She maintained she had always acted with integrity and said she had no idea her former boyfriend, Wagga Wagga MP Daryl Maguire, had done anything wrong.
Since their secret relationship ended in August 2020, Mr Maguire has been recommended for charges over allegedly lying to ICAC, and has also agreed he used his position as MP to try to enrich himself.
No charges have been laid.
Ms Berejiklian said that she had no idea about Mr Maguire’s alleged dealings when they were dating.
She maintained that position after being played a recording of a tapped 2018 phone call with Mr Maguire, where the MP told Ms Berejiklian he was being subpoenaed by the ICAC.
“I believed him when he said he’d done nothing wrong,” Ms Berejiklian told the commission after the recording was played on Friday.
Ms Berejiklian on Friday confirmed Mr Maguire’s evidence that the pair were in love, discussed marriage and having a child, and would stay together from time to time.
She denied that the relationship was of sufficient status to disclose, even though she was shown a text message she wrote to Mr Maguire in April 2018, telling him: “You are my family”.
Ms Berejiklian said she stood by the decision not to disclose the relationship, and also said that at the time, she didn’t even consider making such a disclosure.
When asked about several other disclosures she had made, including about her familial ties to some public servants, she said it was different because they were related by blood.
Ms Berejiklian contended Mr Maguire’s level of access to her was the same as that enjoyed by other MPs.
“I was always able to distinguish between my private life and my public responsibilities,” Ms Berejiklian said.
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