Icac report on Gladys Berejiklian delayed for third time, findings won’t come before state election

By ERIN MODARO

Icac findings on former NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian have been delayed once again, the watch-dog agency has announced. The anti-corruption commission said the report into Berejiklian’s conduct while she was Premier will most likely not be released before the state election in March. This week marks the third time the findings have been delayed.

The Icac released a statement saying the report had been stalled by “complex matters of law and fact”, and that the findings would not be released until the second quarter of 2023.

The commission’s lead, Ruth McColl, is said to be continuing to work on putting together the findings, however, the Icac relates that massive amounts of submissions and evidence need to be dealt with, leading the completion date to remain uncertain.

Two inquiries into the investigation both lasted over 30 days, the Icac reports, in addition to “2,800 pages of transcript, 516 exhibits comprising approximately 10,600 pages and 957 pages of submissions”.

Corruption investigation

The report details Berejiklian’s conduct regarding her relationship with former Wagga Wagga MP Daryl Maguire. A 2020 public inquiry into Maguire’s conduct while MP found he had used his political position to run illegal ‘cash-for-visas’ schemes.

Further public hearings in 2021 regarded Berejiklian’s conduct while serving as Premier- it was around this time that she admitted her relationship with Maguire, before abruptly resigning in October 2021, at the peak of the pandemic lockdowns.

The subsequent investigations into both Berejiklian and Maguire have received submissions as late as October 2022, McColl said.

Berejiklian announced in December of 2021 that she would not be running for the seat of Warringah in the 2022 federal election, telling The Guardian that she would instead be pursuing a private sector career.

“I’m going in a different direction and I’m looking forward to the opportunities that next year brings,” she said at the time.

The news that the report has been delayed again comes as tensions rise ahead of a state election, with cost of living and rent crisis pitting the Coalition against Labor in a tough atmosphere.