Image: Former MP Daryl Maguire has broken his silence since the release of the ICAC report. Image: Bidgee/Wikimedia Commons
By TILEAH DOBSON
Former MP for Wagga Wagga, Daryl Maguire has broken his silence on the Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) report, which found him to have engaged in serious corrupt conduct.
The ICAC report outlines Maguire had misused his role as MP for his personal gain and to advance his private financial interests. The report had also found the former Liberal premier, Gladys Berejiklian to have engaged in serious corrupt conduct.
Maguire broke his silence by releasing a statement through his lawyers on Monday, portraying himself as a “vociferous advocate” to his community. Maguire’s lawyer, Jim Harrowell, reminded that it shouldn’t be “forgotten that during his time representing the people of Wagga and region he worked tirelessly for his constituents.”
“Indeed, he was described in evidence as a dog with a bone, a vociferous advocate for the electorate, or a pain in the arse when it came to getting improvements for the Wagga electorate,” he said in a statement.
Maguire’s lawyer also stated that the former Liberal MP had sought funding for upgrades to Tumit Hospital and the Wagga Wagga Base Hospital for his electorate “entirely without any expectation of any [personal] benefit.”
“Daryl Maguire is proud of his many achievements serving the electorate of Wagga and NSW and strongly denies all allegations referring to … projects [in his electorate of Wagga Wagga],” he said.
This is despite Maguire himself confessing that he sought to “monetise” his office as MP in order to make money for himself and his associates.
Abusing His MP Privileges
In the report, ICAC highlighted the fact that Maguire had misused his office as a member of parliament and the resources accessible to him to benefit G8wayInternational Pty Ltd, from 2012 to August 2018 for which he was “in substance a director and whose profits he had an arrangement to share with others.”
The watchdog had stated that he “misused his role as an MP to advance his own financial interests, as well as the commercial interests of his associates, in connection with an immigration scheme that he promoted to his constituents and others connected with his electoral district.”
Maguire faces the possibility of criminal charges following ICAC’s report and findings. The former MP was also recently charged with one count of giving false or misleading evidence in 2018. This is in relation to a previous ICAC inquiry called Operation Dasha.
