ICAC turmoil: Cops eye Daryl Maguire on $30m airport land deal

The AFP will contact ICAC to ask if Daryl Maguire was ­involved in the sale of a $3m parcel of land to the federal government for $30m.

AFP Deputy Commissioner Ian McCartney. Picture: Gary Ramage

The Australian Federal Police has revealed it will contact the NSW corruption watchdog to ask whether disgraced former state MP Daryl Maguire was ­involved in the sale of a $3m parcel of land to the federal government for $30m.

Senate estimates heard on Tuesday the AFP was examining 256 gigabytes of data in its investigation into potential corruption over the 2018 sale of the Leppington Triangle property near Western Sydney Airport.

AFP Deputy Commissioner Ian McCartney said the investigation was at an “early juncture”, but confirmed the AFP’s inquiries were centred on the discrepancy between the sale price and the valuation of the land.

He said potential offences ­included corruption of public ­officials and obtaining property by deception.

As part of the probe, Mr McCartney said the AFP would contact the NSW Independent Commission Against Corruption “in terms of just satisfying ourselves that Mr Maguire does not have any involvement in ­relation to the manner that we’re investigating”.

Mr Maguire has previously been linked to efforts to have a separate landholding near the Badgerys Creek airport, owned by racing heiress Louise Waterhouse, rezoned to increase its value before being sold for the proposed development.

ICAC heard Mr Maguire’s ­efforts to “grease the wheels” of the deal to sell Ms Waterhouse’s land in 2017 and 2018 would have earned him a $690,000 fee if the sale proceeded at an estimated $330m.

Mr McCartney told Senate estimates the AFP commenced an investigation into the Leppington Triangle sale on July 27, following a referral from the Auditor-General. Investigators were currently combing through a hard drive with more than 800 files provided by the Australian National Audit Office, Mr McCartney said.

He said the AFP was looking at possible offences of “corruption of public officials”.

“We can’t rule anybody out but we can’t rule anybody in either,” Mr McCartney said.

The Leppington Triangle was owned by billionaire businessmen and Liberal Party donors Tony and Ron Perich through their Leppington Pastoral Company, and bought by the Department of Infrastructure in July 2018 for $29.8m. Secured for the use of a possible second runway at the Western Sydney Airport, the land was valued at just $3.1m 11 months later.

Senate estimates heard on Monday that bureaucrats may have attempted to cover up the controversial land acquisition.

Deputy Prime Minister Michael McCormack told parliament on Tuesday it was a “good thing” the land was purchased by the commonwealth. Asked why he had last week described the purchase as a “bargain”, Mr McCormack said: “Decades from now, when they’re building a second runway … it is now in commonwealth hands.”