Berejiklian overruled advice as lover Daryl Maguire whinged
Gladys Berejiklian overruled advice on Greater Sydney Commission after Daryl Maguire said the GSC was causing ‘big problems’.
Gladys Berejiklian overruled written advice that unequivocally argued against moving the Greater Sydney Commission out of the Planning Department and into her personal ministerial control, with department heads warning that doing so would have “significant implications” for decision-making with no tangible benefit to the state.
The written advice, marked “sensitive” and obtained by The Australian, highlighted “major risks” associated with moving the agency, which would result in slower decision-making and create “uncertainty and confusion” in a planning system that had “just gone through major legislative reform”.
The advice was provided to the government soon after former Liberal MP Daryl Maguire was recorded on a phone call complaining to the NSW Premier that the Greater Sydney Commission was causing “big problems” in relation to one of his prospective land deals at Badgerys Creek.
The emergence of the advice raises questions as to whether Ms Berejiklian should have disclosed her personal relationship with Mr Maguire while making critical decisions affecting the agency, which he was lobbying to advance a financial benefit.
Ms Berejiklian has repeatedly stated that she did not need to disclose her years-long relationship with Mr Maguire because it did not meet the definitional threshold of an “intimate” relationship defined within the NSW Ministerial Code of Conduct.
A spokesperson for Ms Berejiklian said the decision to move the agency was “based on a request from the GSC”.
In a separate statement, the GSC’s former chief commissioner Lucy Turnbull said the commission had decided it would be “more appropriate (to) sit within central government as an independent statutory authority, and this be in the same location and government cluster as Infrastructure NSW.”
Asked when the request was initiated, Ms Turnbull said she believed it was “certainly after 18 March, 2018” . This was well after the advice from former Planning Department secretary Carolyn McNally had been provided to the planning minister.
The formal advice listed more than a dozen reasons why the Premier should not remove the agency from the department’s control and into her own.
“Transfer of these functions to an agency responsible to a minister other than the Minister for Planning has significant implications for the NSW Planning System,” the document, dated February 28, 2018, stated.
The agency was subsequently moved into the Premier’s portfolio responsibilities in June 2018.
“It is unclear what the benefits of separating the GSC from the balance of the planning system would be. Any transfer of administration of the GSC to a department other than (Planning) would have a significant impact in terms of the operations efficiency of the overall planning system in the Greater Sydney Region,” the advice said. Ms McNally resigned as a department secretary in March 2019. She was unable to be reached for comment.
As Ms Berejiklian weighed up her decision to shift the GSC into her portfolio, Mr Maguire was trying to lobby the agency in relation to zonings around Badgerys Creek airport, where racing heiress Louise Waterhouse owned a development site she was trying to sell. Mr Maguire, who was trying to broker the sale, told Ms Berejiklian that he stood to earn a significant commission, large enough to finally clear his debts, if the sale involving Ms Waterhouse’s land proceeded.
NSW parliament only on Tuesday passed legislation preventing parliamentary secretaries — a position Mr Maguire held — and ministers from receiving property developer commissions.
The GSC is an independent agency charged with making critical decisions regarding land use planning, zonings and development controls. An area of priority includes the planning of land around the yet-to-be-completed Western Sydney Airport at Badgerys Creek.
The written advice lists six “major risk” factors associated with restructuring the commission’s reporting functions. Among them are an increase in administration, costs and the potential for “policy inconsistency”, the document stated.
It also flagged a “likelihood” that the Premier would become involved in “controversial LEPs (Local Environmental Plans) within the Greater Sydney Region”, and highlighted the fact the agency “responsible for planning Australia’s largest city would no longer provide direct advice to the Planning Minister”.
“In the absence of a clearly articulated benefit, a further change in administration could be received poorly by many and undermine public confidence in the reform process so far,” it said.
Under a section titled “impacts”, the advice stated that moving the agency stood to create a “two-speed planning system” that could cause “disjointed delivery” and “loss of co-ordinated oversight”. It would also create a perception that planning arrangements for the broader regions of NSW were of “lower priority” than those of Sydney.
Ms Berejiklian decision to move the GSC within her portfolio occurred within months of increased lobbying by Mr Maguire on behalf of Ms Waterhouse.
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