Why the Berejiklian ICAC report took five months to be made public

The corruption watchdog received a draft report on former premier Gladys Berejiklian and former state Liberal MP Daryl Maguire in February this year, but it was not finalised and released publicly until June because of a lengthy review and editing process, the agency’s inspector has revealed.

Independent Commission Against Corruption Inspector Gail Furness, SC, said in a report on Wednesday that “reducing the time taken to report to parliament must be a priority for the commission” and made a series of recommendations for change.

The ICAC delivered its report on Gladys Berejiklian and Daryl Maguire in June.

Furness, who is independent of and oversees the ICAC, said she conducted an investigation after receiving a series of complaints into the length of time it took the agency to complete its report in the Berejiklian and Maguire inquiry.

Her recommendations to the ICAC included reworking its existing mechanisms for reviewing draft reports internally and imposing page limits on written submissions made by counsel assisting and other lawyers.

However, Furness cleared the watchdog of maladministration over the time it took to deliver its report in the Berejiklian and Maguire inquiry, concluding it was “not unreasonable, unjust, oppressive or improperly discriminatory”.

ICAC Assistant Commissioner Ruth McColl, a former Court of Appeal judge, presided over the inquiry and gave her draft report to the watchdog on February 8 this year, before it was reviewed by a seven-person internal panel, headed by Chief Commissioner John Hatzistergos. The report was finalised and released on June 29.

“From 8 February until 6 April 2023 (58 days, almost 2 months), the review panel ... provided comments to Ms McColl on the draft report,” Furness said.

“In my view, it was a lengthy review process. However, given the size of the two volumes [totalling 676 pages], the public interest and the complexity of the two public inquiries, I am satisfied that it was not unreasonable.

“Even so, given the commission’s public expression that it will report 80 per cent of its longer public inquiries in six months [from the date of receipt of final submissions], if this period of review becomes common, rather than the exception, it will be almost impossible to meet that target.”

Changes were made to the report in March and April, according to the inspector’s report. McColl’s involvement in the preparation of the report ceased on April 6, followed by an 85-day process of proofing, editing and ultimately printing. This included a separate review by a case lawyer.

Furness said members of the commission’s review panel had “significant responsibilities for the ongoing work of the commission including some of the other public inquiries” but the watchdog “cannot expect to meet its KPIs if it continues to work in the same way”.

Furness calculated that the watchdog took 417 days to deliver its report from the time it received the bulk of written submissions from lawyers in May last year to the release of the report on June 29.

“This clearly fell well outside the 180 days the commission has determined appropriate, however, given the complexity of [the inquiry], it can be readily seen to be an exception,” Furness said.

The last day of public hearings was November 1, 2021, when Berejiklian gave evidence, but Furness said “the date on which Ms Berejiklian gave evidence has no bearing on when the ... inquiry completed”.

Furness recommended the ICAC consider imposing a page limit on written submissions made by counsel assisting and others. The ICAC received almost 1000 pages of submissions following public hearings, Furness said, including 532 pages from counsel assisting the watchdog. Berejiklian’s lawyers submitted 135 pages, while Maguire’s lawyers submitted 46 pages plus attachments.

Furness also recommended the ICAC consider “the composition of the review panel and the priority given by the review panel members over its usual duties when considering reports”.

She said the ICAC should consider “exploring other means of achieving the efficient proofreading, layout and printing of reports” and “updating its procedures and manuals to reflect current KPIs”, as well as whether “the current KPIs are achievable or should be adjusted”.

And she said the ICAC must “constantly monitor its resources when completing a report and if they are inadequate to do so in a timely manner, actively seek more resources”.

Former NSW treasurer Matt Kean, a staunch supporter of Berejiklian, had accused the ICAC of an “unbecoming performance” in delivering the final report in front of cameras in state parliament. But Furness said “the decision to permit the media to attend that event was not made by the commission”.

A spokeswoman for the ICAC said: “The Commission welcomes the Inspector’s report being made available, and will give careful consideration to its recommendations.”

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