The heart is a strange muscle. What cavern of loneliness took a woman who ruled her world into the arms of Wagga Wagga wide boy Daryl Maguire? The Hay Plains grifter. A man whose nearly 20-year political career saw him never considered for a ministry or even the wastelands of a shadow ministerial role.
The relentless eye of Icac unearthed phone taps in which Maguire insisted: “Even when you are the Premier, I am the boss, all right?”
“Yes,” she said repeatedly. “I know.”
The anti-corruption commission introduced the phone tape evidence to argue the former premier was indeed in thrall to this hillbilly huckster, sufficiently to set aside her public responsibilities to please him.
“I impress a lot of people,” says Maguire on the tape. “Why aren’t you impressed in front of people? You should be.”
The secret relationship lasted five years until it was upended by the commission’s investigation.
“I’ll throw money at Wagga,” Berejiklian told Maguire during one taped conversation. “I’m batting for you.”
Her eagerness to please him shines on the tapes. “I’ve already got you the Wagga hospital,” she assures him. “I just spoke to Dom [Perrottet] and I just said put the 140 in the budget and he goes ‘no worries’. He just does what I ask him to, so it’s fine.”
NSW bureaucrats had not supported a $5.5m pitch for an Australian Clay Target Association facility in Maguire’s electorate. Without disclosing her “close, personal relationship” with Maguire, Berejiklian worked to overturn that decision, putting her “in a position of conflict of interest between her public duty and her private interest”.
Similarly, a $10m grant to the Riverina Conservatorium of Music “breached public trust” because Berejiklian was “influenced by the existence of a close personal relationship with Mr Maguire, or by a desire on her part to maintain or advance that relationship”.
Criminal?
No.
The Icac expressly notes that it will not be sending a brief of evidence against the former premier to the director of public prosecutions. The relevant criminal charge would be “misconduct in public office”. Icac’s “corrupt conduct” finding does not automatically trigger a criminal process.
That makes it difficult for Berejiklian to overturn the finding. The report, she says, “is currently being examined by my legal team”. The commission’s many critics say the report’s long gestation, and the designation of “corrupt” despite there being no prospect of a criminal conviction, deprive Berejiklian and others of natural justice.
It’s different for Maguire, who faces new potential charges to add to those he’s fighting over an alleged cash-for-visas scheme. Two of his business associates have also been recommended for charges. The report found Maguire sought to exploit his position to “enrich himself” for years before his relationship with Berejiklian began. It allegedly continued while they were together.
Berejiklian’s failure to report “reasonable suspicions” about Maguire’s alleged corruption itself constituted “grave misconduct”, said Icac.
During the Icac hearing, Berejiklian defended her impulse to pour money into Wagga Wagga. “I don’t think it would be a surprise to anybody that we throw money at seats to keep them.”
Her fundamental line remains unchanged. “At all times I have worked my hardest in the public interest. Nothing in this report demonstrates otherwise,” says her statement.
The Liberal shadow attorney general, Alister Henskens, stressed “there is no finding of any pecuniary benefit” to the former premier.
A brief statement from Optus gives no suggestion her executive career there is in any danger.
Her public standing is reduced rather than destroyed. Berejiklian says the public’s “incredible support … will sustain me always”.
Villain? Victim? Corrupt or crucified? Her saga demonstrates that corruption commissions are powerful things. And that in politics even more than normal life, you need to pick your partners well.
Hugh Riminton is national affairs editor at 10 News First
