This was published 4 years ago
Former MP sent invoice after Parliament House event with then-premier: ICAC
By Lucy Cormack
Former Liberal MP for Wagga Wagga Daryl Maguire allegedly turned his Parliament House office into an office for his own business, including hosting an event for a Chinese delegation, which was briefly attended by then-premier Barry O'Farrell in November 2012.
A corruption inquiry has heard a lunch was planned to celebrate the signing of an agreement between Wagga Wagga City Council and a Chinese delegation to build a $400 million trade centre.
Secretary of the Liaoning province Wang Min with then-premier of NSW Barry O'Farrell at the signing ceremony in 2012.
As a trade house for China and Australia, Mr O'Farrell said the project would create "opportunities for all of us".
Mr Maguire spent an unsuccessful decade trying to get the project off the ground, making multiple self-funded trips to China and driving the council task force.
But behind the scenes, he had his own vested interest in seeing the project succeed, having set his sights on a potentially lucrative strata management scheme through his role as the silent director of G8wayinternational Pty Ltd.
G8wayinternational is the subject of a NSW Independent Commission Against Corruption inquiry into whether Mr Maguire misused his parliamentary position in pursuit of his own financial interests between 2012 and 2018.
G8wayinternational claimed to offer an immigration service, business network and chaperoned travel, with influence reaching "high levels of government".
The director of the company was Mr Maguire's friend of 40 years Phillip Elliott. However, Mr Maguire "pulled the strings", while a member of Parliament and the chairman of the NSW Asia Pacific Friendship Group.
Counsel assisting the commission Scott Robertson said G8wayinternational's model involved connecting business interests from Australia with others in China and "making a commission along the way".
Phillip Elliot arriving at ICAC for the inquiry into former MP Daryl Maguire.Credit: Rhett Wyman
A second hearing of the inquiry on Tuesday heard from Mr Maguire's former parliamentary staffer in Parliament, who said she completed work for G8wayinternational while on parliamentary time and using her parliamentary email.
Nicole Hatton told the hearing she made travel bookings, paid invoices and organised events for G8wayinternational, but knew at the time Mr Maguire's name could not be directly associated with the business "because he was still a member of Parliament".
She recalled the 2012 trade centre signing ceremony and the subsequent lunch, for which Mr O'Farrell did not stay. Ms Hatton said Mr Maguire would have charged the cost of the event to his parliamentary account, as was common practice.
However, the inquiry heard he later arranged for a G8wayinternational invoice to be sent to the Chinese delegation to pay for costs such as "room decorations and set-up activity".
Ms Hatton later agreed with ICAC assistant commissioner Ruth McColl when she said Mr Maguire "turned his Parliament House office into an office for G8wayinternational".
The inquiry also heard in 2018 Mr Maguire told Mr Elliott to "delete any records" linked to G8wayinternational days after he appeared at a separate corruption inquiry into the former Canterbury Council.
"I understand he used words to the effect of 'delete any records'. I deleted or tried to delete emails or spreadsheets. That's what I was asked to do, so I tried," Mr Elliott said on Tuesday.
The pair allegedly worked closely, with the intention that Mr Maguire would work behind the scenes until he decided to retire from Parliament. However, his hopes of retiring before the 2019 state election were dashed when other ventures of G8wayinternational fell over.
In an intercepted phone call, just over 12 months from the election, Mr Maguire told Mr Elliott he thought he was "just gonna have to go again, sadly", due to property and agricultural pursuits that had failed.
"I've got a sick son-in-law I probably have to kick in for ... that's how it's looking at the moment," Mr Maguire said.
The inquiry continues.
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