What we learned: Icac hands down Berejiklian findings
That’s where we’ll leave the blog for today – thanks for joining our live coverage on the findings of Operation Keppel.
Here is a wrap of what we learned today:
Icac made findings of serious corrupt conduct against the former premier Gladys Berejiklian and ex-Wagga Wagga MP Daryl Maguire.
Icac will seek the advice of prosecutors about whether a criminal case should be pursued against Daryl Maguire. But it said it does not want the DPP to consider prosecuting Gladys Berejiklian given the conduct was not serious enough to warrant prosecution.
The report found that Gladys Berejiklian engaged in corrupt conduct by breaching public trust in 2016 and 2017 over grants to the Australian Clay Target Association, based in Daryl Maguire’s electorate, without disclosing her personal relationship to Maguire.
It also found Gladys Berejiklian failed to notify Icac of her suspicion that Daryl Maguire had “engaged in activities which concerned, or might have concerned, corrupt conduct”.
Gladys Berejiklian said in her first public statement following the findings that the report is being examined by her legal team and nothing in the report demonstrates she has not worked her hardest in the public interest of the people of NSW.
Daryl Maguire was found to have engaged in corrupt conduct between 2012 and 2018 when he “improperly used his office, and the resources to which he had access as a member of Parliament (MP), to benefit G8wayInternational Pty Ltd.
Icac also found Daryl Maguire misused his role as an MP to advance his own financial interests and the interests of his associates.
Icac made 18 recommendations in the report, including training MPs and their staff and improving the integrity of grant schemes.
Premier Chris Minns said he is open to considering reforms of the watchdog. He also said he does not believe there should be an “automatic” resignation of people who are the subjects of Icac investigations.
Opposition leader Mark Speakman described the delays in delivering the Icac findings as “unacceptable”. He said initial observations of the report showed the behaviour of former MP Daryl Maguire was “reprehensible”. He also agreed with the report’s findings that Berejiklian should have disclosed her personal relationship with Maguire.
Optus, which created a new executive role for Berejiklian in February last year, said there are no immediate changes to Berejiklian’s executive position at Optus.
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Former auditor general, Tony Harris, has said Icac owes the public an explanation as to why it took so long to deliver its findings given the delay points to potential flaws in their proceedings or processes.
Speaking on ABC, he said:
The Icac report points out that as part of their processes, they disclose to people what they’re going to say about them, and they have to get responses from those people.
And we see in the report that they didn’t get a response. The last response came in October last year, so they couldn’t have reported before October last year. Nevertheless, the several months that it has taken since they received the last submission indicates some flaw in their proceedings and some flaw their processes.
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