Daryl Maguire charged as ICAC set to release Gladys Berejiklian report

Former Liberal MP Daryl Maguire has been charged with giving false evidence just days before the release of a report into he and his ex-lover, former premier Gladys Berejiklian.

Optus Managing Director of enterprise and business, Gladys Berejiklian. Jane Dempster/The Australian

Disgraced former NSW Liberal MP Daryl Maguire has been charged with giving false and misleading evidence to the state’s anti-corruption watchdog just days before the release of a major investigation into the conduct of former premier Gladys Berejiklian and Mr Maguire, with whom she had a five-year secret relationship.

The NSW Independent Commission Against Corruption confirmed Mr Maguire was charged on June 2 over Operation Dasha, which probed allegations of serious corruption at the former Canterbury City Council.

ICAC had recommended the 64-year-old face criminal charges over denials he made at the ­inquiry after he was secretly ­recorded discussing property deals involving a Chinese developer over the phone.

Operation Dasha found several Canterbury councillors engaged in serious corrupt conduct by misusing their power over planning proposals for the council.

Though not a central character in the Operation Dasha inquiry, which began in 2018, Mr Maguire soon became the focus of the ­Operation Keppel investigation, the findings of which will be ­released on Thursday.

That inquiry will determine whether Ms Berejiklian breached the public’s trust in the course of her relationship with Mr Maguire.

Daryl Maguire leaves an ICAC hearing. Picture: Brett Costello

Mr Maguire was the MP for Wagga Wagga from 1999 to 2018, when he resigned after the ICAC investigation.

Ms Berejiklian, who stepped down as premier in October 2021 after becoming a subject of the ­inquiry, has categorically denied any wrongdoing and continues to do so.

During public hearings in 2020, Mr Maguire admitted using his parliamentary position for his own financial benefit and accepting cash deliveries to his parliamentary office relating to a visa scheme for Chinese nationals.

Mr Maguire will face a separate hearing on Tuesday over the visa and migration conspiracy charges, in which he was allegedly involved in a “cash-for-visas” scheme through a company called G8way International while he was sitting in state parliament.

It is alleged Mr Maguire conspired with migration agent ­Maggie Logan to provide visa ­applications “containing statements or information that was false or misleading”, allowing non-citizens to remain in Australia. Mr Maguire has not yet entered a plea.

There is no suggestion Ms ­Berejiklian had any involvement in the alleged visa conspiracy.

Gladys Berejiklian with disgraced MP Daryl Maguire

The allegations against the former premier include that she failed to report Mr Maguire’s allegedly corrupt behaviour to authorities, that she encouraged his behaviour by not challenging it, and that she had a conflict of ­interest when dealing with local funding requests by the former MP.

One of the allegations against Ms Berejiklian involves the Operation Dasha probe into the former Canterbury council. In 2018, briefing notes were prepared by a top bureaucrat in the Department of Premier and Cabinet to let Ms Berejiklian know that two different NSW government staffers had contacted ICAC with information about the investigation the agency was conducting into the council.

Ms Berejiklian appeared to have acknowledged receiving the briefs but not revealed her relationship with Mr Maguire.

The Operation Keppel report will be delivered to the parliament’s presiding officers at 9am on Thursday.