Fallen MP Daryl Maguire given bail after being jailed for lying to ICAC

Former NSW Liberal MP Daryl Maguire has been sentenced to jail after giving misleading evidence to the corruption watchdog about a multimillion-dollar Sydney property and the benefits he expected to receive – before being swiftly released on bail pending an appeal.

The former member for Wagga Wagga, half of the “love circle” that cost Gladys Berejiklian her premiership, fronted up to Central Local Court after being found guilty of lying to the Independent Commission Against Corruption’s 2018 probe into Canterbury Council.

Magistrate Clare Farnan on Wednesday sentenced Maguire to 10 months in prison.

“The misleading evidence was given deliberately while Mr Maguire was the sitting member of parliament ... he has not demonstrated any remorse and maintains his innocence,” Farnan said.

“A significant sentence is required to deter others who might give misleading evidence to the ICAC.

“A term of imprisonment is required.”

Farnan ordered Maguire to stand in the court and said he would serve five months, until January 19, 2026, without parole.

Maguire nodded and sat down, clasping his hands as his lawyer said he would appeal. He was led from the room into a cell by NSW Corrections officers.

Maguire’s lawyers raced up the road to the John Maddison Tower court registry and immediately lodged an appeal against Farnan’s verdict and sentence.

An hour after he was taken downstairs, Maguire re-emerged in the courtroom, this time held in the secure perspex dock.

His lawyers told the magistrate they would appeal in the District Court against her decision to convict and imprison Maguire and insisted he could be trusted on bail.

“It’s difficult. I sentenced him, I convicted him, now I’m being asked if he has reasonable prospects of success [on appeal],” Farnan said.

“Obviously, I think I made the right decision, but that does not mean a District Court judge may not take a different view. Experience has shown me that may be the case.”

Maguire flashed a smile.

The court heard Maguire was already on bail ahead of a trial for Commonwealth offences linked to a second ICAC investigation called Keppel.

That trial is expected to start in early September, the court heard.

“I don’t consider there are any unacceptable risks,” Farnan said.

“I consider it appropriate to grant Mr Maguire bail.”

Operation Dasha, the ICAC investigation that landed Maguire briefly in the cells, forced the MP to resign after phone taps captured him speaking to then-Canterbury councillor Michael Hawatt about the potential sale of a 300-unit site in Campsie for Chinese company Country Garden to buy and develop in May 2016.

“Mr Maguire initially denied that he had ever attempted to do business with Mr Hawatt,” Dasha’s final report reads.

“He denied, in 2016, approaching Mr Hawatt with a view to making money out of a business.”

But in one phone tap, Maguire told Hawatt he should seek a bigger payout from the sale because the amount “isn’t enough divided by two if you know what I’m talking about”.

The ICAC concluded Maguire was talking about collecting money if the sale went through, but it fell apart and neither Maguire nor Hawatt ultimately profited.

Maguire resigned from politics in 2018 after the phone taps were reported by the media.

Three years later, in March 2021, the corruption watchdog recommended the NSW Director of Public Prosecutions consider charges against Maguire over his flip-flopping on evidence about the property deal.

Maguire was charged in 2023 over deceiving Operation Dasha and he pleaded not guilty.

Farnan said on Wednesday that Maguire stood to make a profit of more than $700,000 had the deal gone through.

Farnan said Maguire’s personal financial interest was one potential motive, but she felt it was more likely he was trying to protect his own reputation.

“But it is equally possible that, as a parliamentarian ... even if he was not to be prosecuted for it or found to be corrupt on the basis of it, it would ultimately affect his reputation and parliamentary career,” she said.

Farnan said the community had a right to expect people in high office to act with integrity.

“The community expects a politician who takes an oath or affirmation to tell the truth to give honest evidence,” she said.

Maguire had been giving evidence to Dasha at a time of great personal grief; his son-in-law was dying and he was concerned for his daughter.

Farnan said she accepted Maguire had been a diligent local member for almost 20 years at the time he deceived the ICAC.

“I find that he has good prospects of rehabilitation,” Farnan said, noting the prosecution was likely to deter Maguire from repeating his crime.

Michael McCormack, the Nationals federal member for the Riverina, remains one of Maguire’s supporters and wrote a letter to the court saying the fallen MP was still working in the local community.

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