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PoliticsNSWBerejiklian inquiry

This was published 4 years ago

Berejiklian inquiry day three as it happened: Mike Baird tells ICAC former NSW premier should have disclosed relationship with Daryl Maguire

Michaela Whitbourn
Updated ,first published

Key Posts

The day in review
Baird was ‘incredulous’ about Berejiklian-Maguire relationship
‘Daryl was someone who would relentlessly pursue his own agenda’: Baird
Baird asked about ‘WTF’ memo from his chief adviser
‘Daryl fired up and Gladys put it back on’ the agenda, ICAC hears
‘WTF?’: Baird adviser was sceptical about Maguire’s Wagga Wagga plan
Baird’s director of strategy said final business case required for Wagga Wagga funding proposal
‘Wagga Wagga is pushing the barrow on this’, email tendered at ICAC said of gun club funding
‘Seems like a lot of $$$’: Former Baird adviser Nigel Blunden starts giving evidence at the ICAC
Former NSW premier Mike Baird to give evidence today

The day in review

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Good afternoon and thank you for reading our live coverage of day three of the ICAC’s ten-day public hearing in Operation Keppel, its inquiry into former NSW Liberal MP Daryl Maguire and former premier Gladys Berejiklian.

If you are just joining us now, here’s what you need to know:

  • Former NSW premier Mike Baird has told the ICAC that the then-treasurer, Gladys Berejiklian, should have disclosed her secret relationship with the then NSW Liberal MP for Wagga Wagga, Daryl Maguire, before she chaired a meeting of cabinet’s expenditure review committee in 2016 that considered a proposal for the state to fund a multimillion-dollar upgrade of facilities at a gun club in Mr Maguire’s electorate, the Australian Clay Target Association. “Certainly I think it should have been disclosed,” Mr Baird said.
  • Mr Baird was premier at the time of the proposal but is not accused of wrongdoing.
Former NSW premier Mike Baird arrives at the ICAC in Sydney on Wednesday.Louise Kennerley
  • The state government ultimately signed off on a conditional $5.5 million grant to the association in December 2016. Mr Baird agreed that the support of the NSW treasurer for a funding proposal would have been significant to him but said he read proposals in detail and didn’t just rely on the advice he was given. He said the grant was conditional on certain factors including a satisfactory business case. He agreed with counsel assisting the ICAC, Scott Robertson, that “in an ideal world” a satisfactory business case would have been provided before the proposal was even considered.
  • Mr Baird said he first learned of the Berejiklian-Maguire relationship which started in 2015 and continued until at least July 2018 with contact continuing between the pair until September last year, after Ms Berejiklian gave evidence at the ICAC last year. He said he was “incredulous” about that revelation, and agreed with Ms Berejiklian’s barrister, Sophie Callan, SC, that he had never seen Ms Berejiklian act partially towards Mr Maguire.
  • Mr Baird described Mr Maguire as “someone who would relentlessly pursue his own agenda” who was “certainly aggressive and at times abusive” to members of staff and public servants.

Corruption watchdog adjourns until 9.30am tomorrow

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The ICAC has adjourned for the day and former NSW premier Mike Baird has concluded his evidence.

The hearing resumes at 9.30am tomorrow, when state bureaucrat Chris Hanger is expected to give evidence.

ICAC hearing resumes after brief private hearing

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Counsel assisting the ICAC, Scott Robertson, is now repeating the question he asked former NSW premier Mike Baird in the private hearing.

He asked Mr Baird what the concerns were held in the party room about the then NSW Liberal MP Daryl Maguire before he quit politics in July 2018.

Mr Baird said these were not concerns about corruption and probity but were about his behaviour and approach to engagement with others including “collaborating and engaging” with others.

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ICAC goes into private hearing after Baird reveals there were ‘concerns’ about Maguire

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In an unexpected development, the ICAC has gone into a private session after former NSW premier Mike Baird said there were “concerns” about the then NSW Liberal MP for Wagga Wagga, Daryl Maguire, even before he quit state Parliament in July 2018 during an earlier corruption inquiry.

Mr Baird was asked by Gladys Berejiklian’s barrister, Sophie Callan, SC, about how Mr Maguire was regarded in the party room. The former premier replied that there were “concerns” about him.

Former NSW premier Mike Baird outside the ICAC on Wednesday.Louise Kennerley

This has prompted counsel assisting the ICAC, Scott Robertson, to ask the head of this inquiry, Assistant Commissioner Ruth McColl, SC, to convene a private hearing to allow him to ask Mr Baird further questions about that statement and whether it relates to matters beyond the current scope of this investigation.

Ms Berejiklian announced on July 21, 2018, that Mr Maguire would quit State Parliament after an earlier corruption inquiry into the former Canterbury Council heard he discussed potential commissions with a local councillor from property deals with a wealthy Chinese developer.

In its report in March this year, the ICAC did not make a corruption finding against Mr Maguire in relation to that earlier inquiry but did recommend the NSW Director of Public Prosecutions consider prosecuting him for giving false and misleading evidence at the public inquiry on July 13, 2018.

Berejiklian did not appear biased or partial towards Maguire: Baird

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Former NSW premier Gladys Berejiklian’s barrister, Sophie Callan, SC, has asked former NSW premier Mike Baird about his comment earlier today that he was “incredulous” when he discovered Ms Berejiklian and former NSW Liberal MP Daryl Maguire were in a years-long relationship.

“Does that bespeak that fact that you had no idea that they were in such a relationship?” Ms Callan asked.

“No idea,” Mr Baird agreed.

Former NSW premier Gladys Berejiklian on Wednesday.Janie Barrett

Ms Callan suggested neither Ms Berejiklian nor Mr Maguire had done anything to suggest they were in a relationship.

“That’s correct,” Mr Baird replied.

He did not see Ms Berejiklian treat Mr Maguire any differently and agreed that he did not see her in her conduct or decision-making “act in a partial or biased way in relation to any matters concerning Mr Maguire in the seat of Wagga”.

Baird grilled by Berejiklian’s barrister

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Former NSW premier Mike Baird has agreed with Gladys Berejiklian’s barrister, Sophie Callan, SC, that the then-treasurer didn’t act as a “gatekeeper” by blocking funding proposals that she didn’t support from being placed before cabinet’s expenditure review committee.

The evidence to date in this inquiry has suggested that Ms Berejiklian, the chair of the committee, was in fact supportive of this funding proposal for the then NSW Liberal MP Daryl Maguire’s regional electorate of Wagga Wagga. It is important to note, however, that she has not yet given evidence herself and the inquiry has made no findings.

Former NSW premier Gladys Berejiklian waves hello outside her Northbridge office in Sydney on Wednesday.Janie Barrett

Mr Baird also agreed with Ms Callan that in 2016 there was some commentary that the state government was “out of touch” with the bush.

Mr Baird said he was aware of the commentary but didn’t believe it was true.

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Baird was ‘incredulous’ about Berejiklian-Maguire relationship

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Former NSW premier Mike Baird said he was “incredulous” when he discovered last year that his one-time cabinet colleague Gladys Berejiklian was in a years-long relationship with former NSW Liberal MP Daryl Maguire.

“Certainly I think it should have been disclosed,” Mr Baird said.

Daryl Maguire and Gladys Berejiklian.SMH

If he had known about the relationship, which started in 2015 and ended in 2018, it would have changed the way he approached the decision to fund the project in Mr Maguire’s electorate in 2016.

A question would have arisen about whether Ms Berejiklian had the capacity to manage the conflict of interest.

He said he may have taken the view that Ms Berejiklian, who was treasurer in 2016, should have excluded herself from an expenditure review committee meeting about funding the proposal in Mr Maguire’s electorate.

The secret relationship first came to light in public when Ms Berejiklian gave evidence to the ICAC in October last year.

Baird says the Wagga Wagga project had potential merit as a ‘regional initiative’

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Former NSW premier Mike Baird said that he was happy to support the conditional $5.5 million grant to the Australian Clay Target Association in Wagga Wagga as a “regional initiative” if his concerns were overcome and conditions tied to the grant were met.

But Mr Baird agreed that, in an ideal world, a satisfactory business case would have been provided before the proposal went to cabinet’s expenditure review committee in December 2016.

The ICAC has previously heard evidence from another witness, NSW Office of Sport director Michael Toohey, that former NSW Liberal MP Daryl Maguire announced the funding decision in January 2017 without noting that the money was conditional on a satisfactory business case and other matters.

Michael Toohey, the first witness at the ICAC on Monday.Nick Moir

This put pressure on the bureaucracy to guarantee the funding, Mr Toohey said on Monday.

Baird says Wagga Wagga project needed further work before funds

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Former NSW premier Mike Baird has told the ICAC that he supported the Australian Clay Target Association in Wagga Wagga receiving funds only if further work was carried out first, including the development of a satisfactory business case.

“I put my concerns and what I thought was needed and that was endorsed by the [expenditure review] committee,” Mr Baird said.

The committee agreed in December 2016 to a conditional grant (capped at $5.5 million) to the association in the then NSW Liberal MP Daryl Maguire’s electorate in Wagga Wagga.

When asked if the then-NSW treasurer Gladys Berejiklian played the role of “passive chair” of the committee or was involved in discussions, Mr Baird said, “I can’t recall any untoward discussion.”

He has already said Ms Berejiklian did not disclose any potential conflict of interest.

The ICAC has heard Ms Berejiklian and Mr Maguire were involved in a secret relationship between 2015 and 2018. Ms Berejiklian has yet to give evidence to the inquiry and has denied wrongdoing.

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‘Daryl was someone who would relentlessly pursue his own agenda’: Baird

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Former NSW premier Mike Baird agreed that Gladys Berejiklian, then NSW treasurer, did not declare any conflict of interest in 2016 over the funding proposal in the then NSW Liberal MP Daryl Maguire’s electorate of Wagga Wagga.

The ICAC heard surprise evidence last year that Ms Berejiklian and Mr Maguire were in a secret relationship between 2015 and 2018.

Counsel for the ICAC, Scott Robertson, asked Mr Baird if the support of the treasurer was a significant factor in his decision as to whether a particular proposal should receive the support of cabinet’s expenditure review committee. “Yes,” Mr Baird said.

Former member for Wagga Wagga Daryl Maguire, who is a central figure in the ICAC’s investigation.Janie Barrett

He said that, “as a principle, that would have given me great comfort” but he read proposals in detail and didn’t just rely on the advice he was given.

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