Berejiklian Lawyers Argue Personal Relationships Not Proof of Corruption

NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian speaks at a press conference in Sydney, Australia, on Nov. 4, 2020. Brook Mitchell/Getty Images

Ministers’ personal relationships don’t automatically imply corruption, lawyers for former New South Wales (NSW) Premier Gladys Berejiklian argued in her bid to overturn corruption findings linked to her secret relationship with a fellow MP.

In a two-day hearing at the NSW Court of Appeal, Ms. Berejiklian hired high-profile lawyer Bret Walker SC to challenge the Independent Commission Against Corruption’s (ICAC) ruling that she engaged in serious corruption about funding grants to her former partner, Liberal MP Daryl Maguire’s electorate.

Instances of “serious corrupt conduct” include Ms. Berejiklian sitting on a cabinet committee discussing multimillion-dollar funding plans that Mr. Maguire pushed to benefit his Wagga Wagga electorate.

From 2016 to 2018, while serving as treasurer, Ms. Berejiklian backed allocations of $5.5 million ($3.6 million) for the Wagga-based Australian Clay Target Association and $10 million for the Riverina Conservatorium of Music (RCM).

In doing so, ICAC found that Ms. Berejiklian deliberately failed to disclose her relationship with Mr. Maguire, breaking public trust.

“She 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 corruption watchdog said.

“It was also in bad faith: there was no reasonable excuse or justification for it.”

Mr. Walker disagreed with the findings that Ms. Berejiklian had breached her duty by simply not disclosing to the public that the Wagga Wagga MP was her partner.

“Something could not be a conflict of interest if simply disclosing it would remove that conflict,” he told three court judges.

He said politicians were human and had personal connections to family and friends.

“Our ministers are not members of enclosed religious orders,” he added.

“If they were, by the way, the religion would be the attachment.”

Additionally, he argued that former judge Ruth McColl, appointed assistant commissioner to aid the inquiry, lacked the authority to prepare the ICAC report.

After Ms. McColl’s term as assistant commissioner ended in October 2022, she continued to work as a consultant for an additional eight months before the report was published.

Mr. Walker said ICAC went beyond its authority by accepting Ms. McColl’s conclusions that Ms. Berejiklian’s testimony lacked credibility.

A supplied screengrab shows New South Wales Premier Gladys Berejiklian giving evidence during the NSW Independent Commission Against Corruption hearings for inquiry into former Wagga MP Daryl Maguire concerning allegations of "breach of public trust to improperly gain a benefit" in Sydney, Australia, on Oct. 12, 2020. AAP Image/ICAC via Reuters

Ms. Berejiklian avoided criminal charges as ICAC did not recommend them, citing “formidable” hurdles to prosecution.

‘Illogical, Irrational’

In her court summons, the former NSW premier argued the corruption findings were “illogical or irrational” because the watchdog said there wasn’t enough evidence to prove the accusations as criminal.

She maintained that her relationship with Mr. Maguire was always separate from her public responsibilities.

“It didn’t affect what I thought were my obligations, and it didn’t affect how I thought about things,” she said.

Nevertheless, she confirmed that Mr. Maguire had repeatedly discussed the RCM proposal’s funding with her over several years.

This involved Mr. Maguire expressing concerns about obstacles he believed the government had imposed on the proposal.

Ms. Berejiklian admitted Mr. Maguire’s intense enthusiasm for the proposal, and she knew it was “something ... he felt strongly about as a local Member of Parliament.

It comes as text messages submitted as evidence to ICAC reveal Mr. Maguire’s desire to ‘feel equal’ in the relationship, driven by Ms. Berejiklian’s influential position.

“Glad even when you are the premier I am the boss alright,” he said.

The former NSW premier’s lawyer said there was no proof that her desire to keep or improve her relationship with Mr. Maguire affected her decision-making.

Mr. Maguire was found of serious corrupt conduct by abusing his position as a member of Parliament to benefit himself financially.

The hearing continues.