ICAC turmoil: email tip was ‘ICAC-able’, says disgraced MP Daryl Maguire

Daryl Maguire has conceded that sharing Premier Gladys Berejiklian’s email address with a ‘pissed off’ Louise Waterhouse was an ‘ICAC-able’ offence.

Louise Waterhouse at the reception foyer in NSW Parliament in 2017.

Former NSW MP Daryl Maguire has conceded that his desperate campaign to secure a “tickle from up top” by sharing Gladys Berejiklian’s email address with a “pissed off” Louise Waterhouse was an “ICAC-able” offence.

In another stunning day of evidence at the Independent Commission Against Corruption, the disgraced former Wagga Wagga MP revealed he was on a mission to get “back into the black” and pay off a $1.5m debt when he passed on the Premier’s private email address to Ms Waterhouse in 2017.

It was the latest in a series of damaging admissions made by Mr Maguire to ICAC this week, and the revelations will likely place further pressure on Ms Berejiklian’s future as Premier.

In an intercepted phone call heard on Friday, Mr Maguire asked the racing heiress to not “dob” him in because “all that stuff is, um, ICAC-able” to which she ­replied, “Freedom of information or whatever.”

A surveillance picture of Louise Waterhouse walking through the foyer of NSW Parliament in 2017.

Mr Maguire stood to earn a significant commission if he managed to secure a buyer for the land surrounding the Western Sydney Airport zone that Ms Waterhouse was trying to sell.

A frustrated Mr Maguire told Ms Waterhouse he had “done the rounds” with the office of the then roads minister Melinda Pavey, and instead believed it would be more useful if she had a direct line to the Premier.

“Write her a letter … dear Premier … You gave a great speech, you know, rub the ego,” he told Ms ­Waterhouse over the phone.

In a subsequent call, Mr ­Maguire asked Ms Berejiklian if she received an email from Ms ­Waterhouse and the Premier said no.

“You will,” he said. “She’ll send you an email. She’s really pissed off now, about the you know, the airport.”

At one point, Chinese development company Country Garden was poised to pay the Waterhouse family $330m for the land surrounding Badgerys Creek, a deal that would easily have wiped Mr Maguire’s $1.5m debt.

On Friday, text messages from 2014 between Mr Maguire and Ms Berejiklian, who was the transport minister, revealed he told her that one of his “contacts sold a motel” for almost $6m and he “should make 5k.”

“Congrats!!! Great news!! Woo hoo,” Ms Berejiklian replied.

Mr Maguire admitted he shared some information about his business dealings with Ms Berejiklian, but said he held some details back. He responded, “well, yes”, when asked by counsel assisting ICAC Scott Robertson if “there were particular bits of information that (Ms Berejiklian) didn’t want to know about”.

Ms Berejiklian has vehemently denied any wrongdoing, and on Monday told the inquiry she was often not paying attention to Mr Maguire during their phone calls.

The pair were in a close personal relationship from about 2015 to 2016 that was “on again, off again” until August or September this year.

The inquiry previously heard that Mr Maguire tried to “open doors” for property developer Joe Alha, who wanted information on key infrastructure projects from Ms Berejiklian and a cadre of her top ministers, including Transport Minister Andrew Constance and then planning minister Anthony Roberts.

Mr Maguire admitted that he told his staff to “wipe everything” when it became clear he would need to quit parliament after he first appeared at ICAC in 2018.