The cruellest blow in Gladys Berejiklian’s torrid two days on the ICAC witness stand came at the end, from an unexpected quarter.
The former premier’s friendship with her closest confidante and then chief of staff Sarah Cruickshank was put to the test – and shredded.
Ms Cruickshank’s fierce loyalty to her boss is the stuff of legend in Macquarie Street.
But the moment her barrister, Hugh White, rose to his feet to begin his examination of Ms Berejiklian on Monday, it was clear no quarter would be given: Ms Cruickshank was not going to be the patsy.
In evidence to the corruption probe last week, Ms Cruickshank revealed the then premier had told her of the relationship with disgraced MP Daryl Maguire in July 2018 but said it was over.
Ms Cruickshank was “categorical”: if Ms Berejiklian had told her the relationship was continuing, she would have acted very differently over what would have been a clear conflict of interest – and a need to disclose.
On Monday, Ms Berejiklian disputed her friend’s account but said it was possible for two people to have honestly different memories of the same conversation.
“I left her in no doubt that I was close to Mr Maguire. The exact words or what we spoke about I can’t confirm.”
“I suggest to you that you’re not being honest,” Mr White said in a terse exchange.
“I can only reflect my recollection and I can’t do any better than that,” she replied.
Ms Berejiklian earlier said she told Ms Cruickshank her affair with Mr Maguire was “off again, on again”, but couldn’t remember telling her the relationship was “historical”. The story didn’t add up, Mr White suggested.
Why would Ms Cruickshank have continued to make highly derogatory remarks (“free character assessments”) about Mr Maguire to her boss if she had thought the couple was still together?
“What I absolutely love about Ms Cruickshank is she’s very honest and direct about what she thinks about things, but it doesn’t mean that I have to agree,” Ms Berejiklian said.
Mr White asked the former premier about her frequent complaints to Ms Cruickshank that Mr Maguire “keeps contacting me all the time”.
“She was telling you not to have any contact with him,” Mr White pointed out. “Don’t you think that’s a bit strange if you’re in a relationship with him, to tell you not to contact him?”
“I listened politely and I didn’t take her advice.”
Mr White suggested his client hadn’t fulfilled obligations to disclose what would have been a conflict of interest because she was not told it was a continuing relationship. “That’s a matter for her and what she remembers and a matter for me and what I remember and I have nothing further to add,” Ms Berejiklian replied.
It wasn’t the first time on Monday Ms Berejiklian’s memory had been queried. Earlier, counsel assisting, Scott Robertson, asked her about evidence suggesting Mr Maguire had taken steps to make it more difficult for “Big Brother” to eavesdrop on their conversations by obtaining a private phone.
“He may very well have, I just can’t remember.”
“There are some things in one’s life that one definitely remembers and other things that one doesn’t,” Mr Robertson challenged her.
“I don’t recall what I had for breakfast last Friday but I recall that I was here asking some questions of you.”
“I certainly didn’t change anything I was doing because I trusted him,” she answered testily.
There was plenty of acrimony on display through the day, but nothing that seemed to hurt as much as a friendship gone.
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