ICAC turmoil: Ex-MP Daryl Maguire’s debt drove him to ‘open doors’

A desperate crusade to clear a $1.5m debt led Daryl Maguire to ‘open doors’ for a property developer who wanted direct access to Gladys Berejiklian.

Former MP Daryl Maguire and NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian in Wagga Wagga in 2017.

A desperate crusade to clear a $1.5m debt led former NSW MP Daryl Maguire to “open doors” for a property developer who wanted direct access to Gladys Berejiklian and a cadre of her top ministers, including the Transport Minister and former planning minister.

In another stunning day of evidence at the Independent Commission Against Corruption, the disgraced former member for Wagga Wagga admitted he ­orchestrated a “drop-in” meeting between his then-partner Ms Bere­jiklian and property developer Joseph Alha in 2017.

It was the latest in a series of admissions made by Mr Maguire to ICAC on Thursday that will place further pressure on Ms Bere­jiklian’s future as NSW Premier.

Mr Maguire said he told Ms Berejiklian he would be able to pay off a $1.5m debt once racing heir Louise Waterhouse sold a parcel of land around the western Sydney airport zone. “I would have raised it to her,” Mr Maguire said. “I only have a few friends I can raise those things with.”

At one point, Chinese development company Country Garden was poised to pay the Waterhouse family $330m for the land surrounding Badgerys Creek.

Counsel assisting the inquiry, Scott Robertson, said ICAC revealed the secret relationship ­between Ms Berejiklian and Mr Maguire because the agency was required to investigate “conduct connected with alleged corrupt conduct”.

The former MP confirmed he was in a close personal relationship with Ms Berejiklian from about 2015 to 2016 and it was “on again, off again” until August or September this year.

Mr Maguire said he told Mr Alha they could “pop in and say hello to Glad” while the pair were sharing a “glass of red” in 2017 at his parliamentary office.

“Joe wanted to meet the Premier. He said: ‘Can we go and see Gladys? Can we go and see ­Gladys?’ ”, Mr Maguire said.

He said the pair then visited the Premier’s office for “about two minutes” but he could not remember whether Mr Alha had carried a development model to the Premier’s office.

In another intercepted phone call played on Thursday, Mr Maguire instructed his “great mate” Mr Alha to write a letter to then planning minister Anthony Roberts and to “cc the Premier.”

“Joseph, write the letters tomorrow, pour your heart out. You cc the boss and you send it to Roberts,” he said. “You just cc Gladys Berejiklian. You just send it to Roberts and send a copy to me. I’ll get it to her,” Mr Maguire said.

In another taped phone call from November 2017, Mr Maguire told Mr Alha he could set up a meeting with Transport Minister Andrew Constance.

He was seeking inside information about a proposal to move a train station, but the inquiry was told that the ­meeting had never eventuated.

A “meet and greet” with Mr Roberts was also organised by Mr Maguire at the behest of Country Garden.

On one occasion, Mr Roberts replied to Mr Maguire and confirmed a meeting had taken place and that the developer would be “kept fully informed”.

Mr Maguire also admitted he acted as a “door opener” for a network of Chinese business associates while he was the chair of the NSW parliament’s Asia Pacific Friendship Group.

He also attempted to organise a re-election fundraiser for “$1000” a person, with a guest list that included the Premier, Treasurer Dominic Perrottet, Mr Alha and Louise Waterhouse.