Cash for Coalition seats: papers shredded by Gladys Berejiklian’s staffer

A staffer employed by NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian destroyed documents about a $250m grants program.

NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian’s senior policy adviser Sarah Lau. Picture: Bianca De Marchi

A staffer employed by NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian ­destroyed files and “shredded” documents about a $250m council grants program that favoured Coalition-held seats, an inquiry has heard.

It also heard that Ms Berejik­lian gave her secret lover and disgraced MP Daryl Maguire’s electorate of Wagga Wagga six grants totalling $40,000 from her discretionary fund during 2017 and 2018.

Sarah Lau, Ms Berejiklian’s senior policy adviser, told the NSW parliamentary inquiry into council grants on Friday that physical copies of a briefing note provided to the Premier about why Hornsby Shire Council ­received a $90m grant to turn a quarry into a park were shredded and digital copies “deleted”.

“They were disposed of as part of my normal record management practices,” she said. “I only did that because a separate electronic record had been created through my emails.”

The scandal centres on allegations that the Berejiklian government used the Stronger Communities Fund to rubber-stamp 249 council grants, almost all in Coalition seats, and purposely left no paper trail.

An analysis of the grant allocations by the opposition revealed 95 per cent of the money went to projects in Coalition electorates in the lead-up to the 2019 election, with Ms Berejiklian signing off on $141m in grants.

Emails from Ms Lau tendered to the committee also referred to the Premier as “signing off” on the grants, but in evidence on Friday she said it was just a “turn of phrase” and that Ms Berejiklian did not have the power to approve grants.

“It would have been more ­accurate to say that she confirmed she was comfortable with the proposed projects, because the truth is she was not approving any payments,” she said.

Sarah Cruickshank, the Premier’s former chief of staff, also gave evidence on Friday and conceded it wasn’t standard practice to ­destroy working advice notes.

Greens MLC David Shoebridge, who is chairing the ­inquiry, asked Ms Cruickshank if the destruction of the “only written advice” about the allocation of a $90m of grant was “routine practice” in the Premier’s office.

“I would say no, it’s not,” she replied.

In a statement, Mr Shoebridge said: “The government comes into parliament and tells us no documents exist. They don’t exist because they shredded them.”

Labor’s Courtney Houssos also asked Ms Cruickshank about a decision by the Premier to use her discretionary fund to give Mr Maguire’s electorate six grants totalling $40,000.

“Are you aware of the Premier making any disclosures about her relationship with Daryl Maguire before approving these funds?” Ms Houssos asked, to which Ms Cruickshank replied, “No, I’m not.”

The government has defended the program as a critical investment that is designed to help amalgamated councils “right across the state”. “We’re very proud of our record, of $250m being invested, giving support to councils.”