Image: The former NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian. Image: Gladys Berejiklian/Facebook.
By ROBBIE MASON.
Former NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian and former Liberal MP Daryl Maguire engaged in “serious corrupt conduct” and breached public trust, says NSW’s anti-corruption watchdog.
In a two-volume report, handed down this morning, the Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) has laid out scathing evidence of state-level corruption. The report centres on an undisclosed relationship between Ms Berejiklian and Mr Maguire and two multi-million dollar grants, given to the Australian Clay Target Association and the Riverina Conservatorium of Music between 2016 and 2018.
Both organisations fall within the Wagga Wagga electorate which Mr Maguire represented between 1999 and 2018. Ms Berejiklian presided over the Expenditure Review Committee that approved the grants.
The report demonstrates that Berejiklian was “influenced by the existence of her close personal relationship with Mr Maguire and by a desire on her part to maintain or advance that relationship.”
The Commission has found that Mr Maguire improperly used his office and position as a Member of Parliament to benefit himself financially and a company, G8wayInternational, from which he shared profits. He failed to disclose his interest and position in the business, and that he had an arrangement to share profits from the company’s revenue.
The report has also found that Mr Maguire misused his role as chair of the NSW Parliament Asia Pacific Friendship Group to advance his own financial interests and the commercial wellbeing of associates.
The report is rife with evidence that Mr Maguire exploited his relationship with Ms Berejiklian to pull strings. In one phone conversation between the pair, tapped by ICAC, Mr Maguire told the former Premier “Glad even when you are the Premier I am the boss alright”.
“Yes I know,” Berejiklian replied.
ICAC is not recommending the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) pursue Ms Berejiklian for any offence. But the government agency will refer Mr Maguire to the DPP for possible criminal charges over his participation in a visa scheme involving G8wayInternational. It has also put forward the names of two associates of Mr Maguire’s for criminal investigation – Maggie Wang and Phillip Elliot.
In a press conference this morning, NSW Premier Chris Minns said that it’s “important” for politicians to “understand that they must manage conflicts of interest”.
“That has been a fundamental principle since the foundation of NSW Parliament and it remains the case today,” he said. “My government takes that warning very seriously.”
“We will of course work with parties across the political spectrum about ensuring there are appropriate and reasonable steps to strengthen the ICAC NSW,” he continued.
In front of media in Parliament House, Greens MP Kobi Shetty condemned the endemic corruption within Australians politics: “these findings of serious corrupt conduct are a vindication for the work of the ICAC”.
“ICAC has been subject to relentless criticism, even just this week there are MPs who are still attacking the work of the ICAC,” she said.
“This is now 2 premiers and almost a dozen MPs that have gone because of the work of the ICAC.
Critics have raised concerns over the time it has taken ICAC to complete the investigation into Berejiklian and Maguire and publish the final report.
The reports enters the public domain almost two years after Berejiklian resigned as Premier in October 2021, days after ICAC announced it was investigating her secret relationship with Maguire.
Using the opportunity to demand greater funding for an under-resourced ICAC, Shetty stated, “ICAC gets thousands of complaints every year, and can only investigate a handful of them.”
“Report after report is exposing corruption, and the delay on this report demonstrates that the ICAC needs more funding.
“The public has had enough of corrupt politicians, and this report should be a wake-up call to the public service and the parliament that corruption has got to stop.
Law groups such as the NSW Council for Civil Liberties (NSWCCL) have also called for greater ICAC funding.
Josh Pallas, President for NSWCCL, said, ““The delivery of ICAC’s findings today are welcome and overdue. When criticising ICAC’s delays, however, we must remember that it’s no secret that the ICAC has been calling for more funding to properly conduct itself with the fairness and high standard required.”
“We hope that with the delivery of the findings today these criticisms are put to bed,” he continued.
“The argument that ICAC destroys people’s reputations just doesn’t wash with me. People make choices about their behaviour and those choices, when exercised poorly, ruin reputations.”
Critics disappointed Berejiklian will not be prosecuted
Many have questioned ICAC’s decision not to refer Gladys Berejiklian to the DPP, pushing the country’s online ‘AusPol’ sphere into overdrive.
Suggesting ICAC’s report fails to deter further government corruption, journalist Claire Connelly wrote on Twitter, “Jesus Christ, Berejiklian’s actions were either corrupt, or they were not. If they are, as ICAC has found to be true, then she should be prosecuted. This is absurd.”
Writer Serkan Öztürk, meanwhile, posted on Twitter, “I strongly urge every able person to engage in widespread political and business corruption and never stop. As you won’t be charged.”
“That’s the message from today’s ICAC Report into Gladys Berejiklian.”
I strongly urge every able person to engage in widespread political and business corruption and never stop. As you won't be charged.
That's the message from today's ICAC Report into Gladys Berejiklian.
There seems to be no punishment for political corruption motivated by greed pic.twitter.com/o05V6uakJU
— Serkan Öztürk (@SerkanTheWriter) June 29, 2023
