Former premier Gladys Berejiklian arrives at the ICAC in October 2021.Credit:Renee Nowytarger
“It undermined the high standards of probity that are sought to be achieved by the ministerial code which,as premier,Ms Berejiklian substantially administered.”
However,despite the findings,the ICAC will not seek her criminal prosecution. It said it did not believe that “consideration should be given to obtaining the advice of the DPP with respect to the prosecution of Ms Berejiklian for any offence”.
The ICAC also made serious corrupt findings against Maguire,finding he “misused his role as an MP to advance his own financial interests,as well as the commercial interests of his associates”.
One of those related to an alleged cash-for-visa scheme for which he is currently facing criminal charges.
The ICAC recommended the DPP consider the further prosecution of Maguire and two of his business associates.
The report made 18 recommendations to address the codes of conduct governing MPs,saying its “ultimate goal is to improve and enhance the reputation of the NSW parliamentary system to the betterment of the people of NSW through the adoption of the recommendations”.
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NSW Opposition Leader Mark Speakman praised Berejiklian on Thursday,saying she led the state with “strength and determination through the most challenging conditions since the Second World War”.
Speakman said he would give closer consideration to the report but his early observations were that his former leader had not broken the law.
“The Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) does not suggest that there has been any arguable breach of the criminal law by the actions it investigated by Ms Berejiklian nor was it suggested in the inquiry that Ms Berejiklian received any personal financial benefit,” Speakman said in a statement.
“The delays in providing a report have been unacceptable and should not be allowed to occur again. Our community deserves a timelier resolution of investigations undertaken by ICAC,especially when they concern the senior leadership of our state.”
Speakman was,however,scathing of Berejiklian’s former boyfriend. “Daryl Maguire’s actions were a reprehensible abuse of his position,” Speakman said.
The explosive inquiry,which ended Berejiklian’s premiership in October 2021,was launched to investigate whether she had engaged in conduct that breached public trust when awarding government grants during a relationship with Maguire.
The long-awaited corruption report into Berejiklian’sconduct was due to be released in October last year,butthe term of commissioner Ruth McColl,SC,was extended.
Berejiklian resigned abruptly as premier in October 2021 after the ICAC confirmed it was investigating whether she had engaged in conduct that breached public trust during her secret relationship with Maguire.
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“Resigning ... is against every instinct of my wellbeing ... I love my job and serving the community,but I have been given no option following the statement,” she said at the time.
The first elected female premier of NSW,Berejiklian was the third Liberal leader to be forced to resign from the state’s top job amid an ICAC scandal,following Nick Greiner andBarry O’Farrell.
The former premier is now a senior executive with telecommunications company Optus.
Maguire quit NSW Parliament in July 2018 after a corruption inquiry exposed his attempts to broker property deals and seek commission on behalf of a Chinese developer.
The ICAC’s Operation Keppel probe in October last year examined whether Berejiklian breached public trust when she awarded grants to several community organisations in the NSW Riverina region between 2012 and 2018.
The inquiry heard taped phone calls between Berejiklian and Maguire during their five-year secret relationship.
It heard Berejiklian’s relationship with Maguire began in 2014 or 2015 and continued even after she asked for Maguire’s resignation in 2018. In his evidence to the ICAC,Maguire disclosed private details about their relationship,including that he would stay with Berejiklian and had a key to her house.
The ICAC focused on two multimillion-dollar grants – issued to a gun club and a music conservatorium – in Maguire’s electorate while the pair were in a relationship and Berejiklian was treasurer and later premier.
Berejiklian told the inquiry she completely rejected any assertion that her feelings for the man she once loved and hoped to marry affected her duty to the public.
“What I felt for him was completely separate to what I did in terms of executing my responsibilities and I stand by that ever so strongly,” she said.
Berejiklian told the inquiry she would still keep secret her five-year relationship with Maguire if she had her time again,insisting she did not feel it was “of sufficient standard or sufficient significance” to do so.
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