Minns won’t say whether he believes Berejiklian acted corruptly

NSW Premier Chris Minns is refusing to say whether he agrees with the state’s corruption watchdog that Gladys Berejiklian acted corruptly, as the powerful official charged with overseeing the Independent Commission Against Corruption launched a probe into why it took so long for the damning report to be released.

On the same day the NSW Liberal Party confirmed Berejiklian will not face expulsion from the party she once led, Minns, her one-time political opponent, repeatedly refused to criticise conduct the two-volume ICAC report said amounted to serious corruption.

NSW Premier Chris Minns has refused to say whether he believes Gladys Berejiklian acted corruptly despite the ICAC’s findings.Credit: Dion Georgopoulos

Despite Minns saying the findings against former Wagga Wagga MP Daryl Maguire were “serious and grave”, he declined to endorse the anti-corruption watchdog’s conclusion that Berejiklian engaged in serious corruption. He also did not believe she needed to apologise for her conduct.

Asked by reporters whether he also accepted the ICAC’s finding that Berejiklian acted corruptly, the Labor premier said: “I’m not prepared to make that claim.”

“I’m not going to comment about specific recommendations or inquiries just as I wouldn’t in the normal course of events comment about Supreme Court judgments. I would just say that it’s open to the people who’ve been adversely named to pursue their own legal action,” he said.

But the premier went on to say the ICAC had uncovered “deplorable” behaviour by Maguire, calling the findings made against Berejiklian’s one-time secret boyfriend “serious and grave”.

When asked why he was willing to make those comments about Maguire and not Berejiklian, he said: “I am. I’m not prepared to make a comment about the former premier and I have made a comment about Mr Maguire”.

Asked whether he thought Berejiklian should offer the state an apology he said: “No, I’m not calling for that”.

“It’s not for me to pass judgment about findings made by independent organisations or investigatory bodies like the ICAC ... what I would say and what I said about premier Berejiklian yesterday is that I thought her service to the state during COVID was exemplary,” he said.

“And notwithstanding the findings from the ICAC in the last 24 hours I don’t think it detracts from her record of service during what was a terrible period in the state’s history.”

Asked whether he would accept the same conduct from his own ministers, Minns said it was difficult to hypothesise because “rarely if ever” would the same circumstances be repeated. But he said it was “everybody’s responsibility and obligation to maintain their conflicts of interest”.

The ICAC has been subject to sustained criticism over the lengthy delay in handing down its report, and on Friday the Inspector charged with overseeing the anti-corruption watchdog, Gail Furness, SC, revealed she would conduct an investigation into why it took so long.

“The Inspector is currently determining the scope of an investigation around the delay in the furnishing of the Operation Keppel report to parliament,” a spokesperson said in a statement.

“The Inspector intends to make a special report to parliament at the conclusion of her investigation, which she will recommend be made public.”

As well as its serious corruption findings, the ICAC’s report made 18 recommendations that aimed to “address systemic weaknesses found in this investigation and reinforce NSW Parliament’s ethical culture”.

The recommendations mostly relate to increased training for MPs and their staff to identify conflicts of interest and improved codes of conduct. Minns said he believed those changes were a good idea and were likely to be accepted.

“In my experience of speaking to members of parliament, they want to learn, they want to know what the rules are in an unambiguous way before they start their first day as a member of parliament,” he said.

“And it’s one of the weird and strange professions where there is no guidebook and standard out. So, if we can codify what is and is not acceptable, and I realise a lot of people might be at home shaking their head saying, ‘How hard is it to be a good person?’

“Well, look, we don’t want people to unintentionally break the rules. And if we can make sure that those rules are clear and transparent, to every new member of parliament of course we’ll do that.”

Minns’ extraordinary refusal to condemn his predecessor’s conduct follows an outpouring of support for Berejiklian despite ICAC’s scathing findings she breached the public trust by helping to secure grant funding for projects being pushed by her secret boyfriend Daryl Maguire, and failed to report his conduct.

On Friday federal Opposition Leader Peter Dutton defended Berejiklian, saying she is “not a corrupt person”, and similarly placed blame solely on Maguire.

“What you see in public is what you get in person as well. She is a very decent person. She chose a bum, basically. He was a bad guy. She has paid a big price for that,” he said.

Peter Dutton came to Berejiklian’s defence.Credit: Illustration by Matt Golding

“Her integrity is not in question. She is not a corrupt person. That is not the person I know. I think she should hold her head high.”

Dutton joined a long list of Liberals to vocally back Berejiklian, including former NSW treasurer Matt Kean. On Friday, a spokesperson for the NSW division of the Liberal party confirmed she would not face expulsion for her conduct.

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