‘Serious corrupt conduct’: how phone taps exposed Berejiklian and Maguire

Gladys Berejiklian and her secret ex-boyfriend Daryl Maguire both engaged in “serious corrupt conduct” when they carried on an undisclosed relationship while in office, according to the NSW Independent Commission Against Corruption.

ICAC investigators began looking into Maguire in 2016 as part of an earlier investigation into a Sydney council. When they tapped his phone, they discovered he was in a secret relationship with Berejiklian, who was state treasurer before rising to become premier in 2017.

ICAC found Berejiklian “engaged in serious corrupt conduct by breaching public trust in 2016 and 2017” by promising and awarding funding to a shooting organisation in Wagga Wagga, the state seat represented by Maguire.

The report, from ICAC’s Operation Keppel, said that by funding the Australian Clay Target Association (ACTA) without disclosing her close personal relationship with Maguire, Berejiklian “was in a position of a conflict of interest between her public duty and her private interest, which could objectively have the potential to influence the performance of her public duty”.

“The commission also finds that in the same period, Ms Berejiklian partially exercised her official functions, in connection with funding promised to ACTA, influenced by the existence of her close personal relationship with Mr Maguire,” the report said.

The report faulted Berejiklian for:

• Advocating for two pet projects of Maguire’s — the clay target club and a music conservatorium in Wagga — to be funded to the total tune of $15 million without disclosing she and Maguire were in a close personal relationship
• Partially exercising her official functions while influenced by the relationship
• Earmarking another $20 million for the music conservatorium, again without disclosing the relationship
• “Refusing” to notify ICAC of suspicions Maguire was engaged in corrupt conduct 

Maguire was also accused of using his office as an MP to further his own financial interests and those of his associates. 

The ICAC will ask the NSW Director of Public Prosecutions to look into whether charges should be laid against Maguire and a number of other people implicated in his alleged scheme. 

The ICAC said it would not seek the opinion of the DPP in regards to Berejiklian’s conduct, meaning it’s unlikely she’ll be charged over the findings.

Berejiklian responded to the report in a statement to Nine news: “Serving the people of NSW was an honour and privilege. At all times I have worked my hardest in the public interest. Nothing in this report demonstrates otherwise … Thank you to members of the public for their incredible support. This will sustain me always. The report is currently being examined by my legal team.”

The ex-Willoughby MP’s employer, Optus, also issued a statement to reporters.

“Optus acknowledges the ICAC report published in relation to Gladys Berejiklian’s time serving as a Member of the NSW Parliament,” the telco giant said.

“We refer you to Gladys’ media statement and have no further comment to make.”

NSW Opposition Leader Mark Speakman, who previously served as attorney-general under Berejiklian and who belongs to the same moderate Liberal faction, highlighted ICAC’s decision not to recommend charges when he faced reporters on Thursday afternoon.

Speakman refused to directly answer the question of whether Berejiklian was corrupt.

“Look, the Gladys I know worked her guts out 24/7, the Gladys I know and observed as an MP and minister was an honest MP who served the people of NSW with incredible dedication,” he said.

“One of [ICAC’s] findings is about the need to disclose her personal relationship … if those findings of fact stand up [against a possible appeal], then I would have expected, as a minister, for that to be disclosed.

“But there are other findings beyond that that may well be the subject of a legal challenge.”

Two ICAC officers were seen entering Parliament’s public entrance on Macquarie Street in central Sydney around 9am on Thursday, carrying a heavy envelope that contained the 688-page, two-volume report. 

“I saw how thick it was, it’s a lot thicker than some of the reports that I used to see when I used to be counsel assisting ICAC,” barrister Geoffrey Watson SC told ABC News. 

The ICAC website crashed under the weight of heavy user traffic as the report was being uploaded.

The commission inquiry began as a probe into possible corrupt conduct by Maguire but expanded to the Coalition premier after Berejiklian was compelled to reveal the relationship in public hearings in 2020.

She denied any wrongdoing, saying the romance had ended and retained her office, only to step down as premier when ICAC in October 2021 began investigating her conduct.

Even after the relationship was exposed, Berejiklian held on to widespread public support, with net approval ratings of more than 35%.

After quitting office, she turned down an opportunity to run for federal Parliament and moved into the private sector as an Optus executive.

Delays in the release of the ICAC report into Berejiklian and Maguire have been criticised.

The commission has said delays were caused by complex legal issues and copious submissions.

The Minns Labor government on Wednesday backed a parliamentary committee’s call for ICAC to develop its own time standards and measure its performance against them.

“(The changes) will increase transparency and public accountability of the ICAC’s reporting functions without imposing inflexible restrictions on the ICAC,” the government said.

Maguire, 64, is facing criminal charges stemming from conduct exposed at an earlier ICAC inquiry and giving false and misleading evidence into that inquiry.

— With additional reporting by AAP.