Former boyfriend heard lobbying Premier in phone call played at ICAC
Gladys Berejiklian gave evidence to the inquiry earlier in the week. Photo: Getty
Disgraced former MP Daryl Maguire has been heard lobbying his former partner, NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian, regarding a deal he thought could make him $1.5 million.
The Independent Commission Against Corruption is looking into whether the former Wagga Wagga MP used his position for financial gain.
Mr Maguire initially told the commission he limited how much he told Ms Berejiklian about a deal he was working on involving land in Western Sydney, owned by Louise Waterhouse’s Smart West, because he thought it would create a conflict of interest and place her in a difficult position.
Mr Maguire and Ms Berejiklian were, at the time, in a relationship.
During Friday morning’s hearing, Mr Maguire was quizzed on the extent of the information he shared with Ms Berejiklian.
“In relation to Smart West, I understand the NSW Government was making a decision almost constantly how that project would be brought to fruition?” asked Assistant Commissioner RuthMcColl.
Mr Maguire replied: “Yes, there would have been.”
“That would be an obvious conflict of interest?” said Assistant Commissioner McColl.
“Yes,” Mr Maguire said.
The hearing was played an intercepted phone call between Mr Maguire and Ms Berejiklian in October 2017 where he discussed meetings he sought with the Premier’s staff to help rectify a planning issue for Ms Waterhouse.
Maguire: “I had coffee with Louise Waterhouse”.
Berejiklian: “Oh yeah, how’s she going?”
Maguire: “Yeah good. She’s got a big problem so I took up to your office and said here can you help solve it. She’s got a lot of property out at Badgerys Creek …”
Berejiklian: “Yeah.”
Maguire: “… and the Planning Department right, and and RMS and all them, are saying look you know, we, we don’t want to plan that now, we’re too busy worrying about you know, the new housing and all this around Badgerys Creek.
“And she’s saying but, you know, I need a road, I need an access, give me an access. I’ll develop it myself, I don’t need you, right.”
Berejiklian: “Mmm.”
Maguire: “And they’re resisting. She said I’ve been two years trying to get this road on. She said and.”
Berejiklian: “Mmm.”
Maguire: “… and they just won’t do anything and I said OK. So I got Roads, I got Jock to come down and I got um, one bloke from your place there, got them to put their heads together and said look, why can’t you fix this.”
“They, they need to extend the, the, the thing 300 metres right and, and there’s no change in it. You know put 300 metres and she can get on with the job. Honestly. I just, you know, nobody wants to do anything.”
Ms Berejiklian maintains she was never briefed on the details of Mr Maguire’s business dealings and that she never became involved with his financial affairs.
Meanwhile, an investigation is underway into how the transcript of a closed private hearing at the corruption inquiry was published online on Thursday.
Mr Maguire had faced questioning about his secret “on-again, off-again” personal relationship with Ms Berejiklian.
A transcript of the closed session of questioning was mistakenly published on the ICAC website but removed less than an hour later.
Early on Friday, Assistant Commissioner McColl apologised to the Premier and Mr Maguire for the transcript being “inadvertently” uploaded and ordered an internal investigation.
But barrister representing Ms Berejiklian, Arthur Moses SC, also requested ICAC investigate who might have downloaded the transcript in the period it was available online, describing it as a “violation” of the Premier’s privacy and security.
“We would like to work with the commission to consider whether your lawyers can assist you in respect of the scope of your powers to make those orders which, in effect to ascertain, whether first of all this commission can exercise through it’s technology processes who downloaded the material,” he said.
