Gladys Berejiklian told chief of staff about relationship with Daryl Maguire in 2018, Icac hears

Gladys Berejiklian’s lawyer has accused the New South Wales corruption watchdog of not affording the former premier “procedural fairness” and criticised the inquiry for asking “seven men” about whether she had a conflict of interest because of her secret relationship with former Wagga Wagga MP, Daryl Maguire.

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Photograph: Dean Lewins/AAP

© Photograph: Dean Lewins/AAP
Former NSW premier Gladys Berejiklian’s barrister has criticised Icac for asking ‘seven men’ about a possible conflict of interest due to her secret relationship with Daryl Maguire.

On day seven of the Independent Commission Against Corruption’s hearings into the former premier’s conduct her barrister, Sophie Callan SC, opened the day with a series of complaints about the inquiry.

Callan told the inquiry Berejiklian’s legal team had written to Icac requesting information about the “scope” of its investigation into whether she breached her legal duty to report suspected corruption to the watchdog.

She said she had received a “wholly unsatisfactory” response from the inquiry, which, she said, had the effect of denying “procedural fairness” to Berejiklian.

“In order for this public hearing to serve a meaningful purpose … my client [is] entitled to know what is alleged,” she said.

Icac is investigating whether Berejiklian breached the public trust by “exercising public functions” in a position of conflict because of her relationship with Maguire. She has denied any wrongdoing.

The inquiry has so far heard evidence from a number of public servants and political colleagues of Berejiklian who have told the inquiry they would have acted differently in relation to the two grants at the centre of the corruption probe, had they known about the former premier’s secret relationship with Maguire.

Berejiklian’s predecessor as premier, Mike Baird, told the inquiry last week that he was “incredulous” when he found out about the relationship, and that it “should have been disclosed”.

Related: ‘Conflict of interest’: Berejiklian should have declared her relationship with MP, ex-deputy premier tells Icac

Callan indicated she would argue the evidence should not be taken into account by the commissioner, Ruth McColl AO, in her findings, saying it could not “rationally bear” on a corruption finding.

“The commission had been prepared to receive evidence from a number of witnesses, seven men, who have expressed their opinion as to whether my client [was] in a position of conflict,” she said.

“[That cannot] rationally bear upon your assessment as to whether a conflict existed [and the] lack of objection should in no way indicate my client accepts any of that evidence could inform your honour on that matter.”

But Callan’s complaints were dismissed by the commission after counsel assisting the inquiry, Scott Robertson, said they contained a “fundamental misapprehension” of the role of the watchdog.

“These proceedings are not a trial,” he said.

“I do not have a case [and] I’m not putting one forward by way of particulars or otherwise [an argument about] whether they are true, false or anything in between. My role is to assist the commission in attempting to get to truth of the allegations.”

Icac is hearing from a number of former Berejiklian staff members, including her former head of strategy, Brad Burden, who told the inquiry he believed the former premier had signed off on $30m in funding for a music recital hall during the 2018 Wagga Wagga byelection caused by Maguire’s resignation.

The grant is one of two at the centre of the corruption hearing.

“I recall that the announcement was made so therefore she would have approved that,” he said.

Earlier on Tuesday Icac heard from Neil Harley, a longtime adviser and the premier’s chief of staff from February 2020 until her resignation. Harley told the inquiry that in 2018, when he was a political liaison officer in Berejiklian’s office, that he had not supported the $30m grant.

Harley told the inquiry he had first heard about Berejiklian’s relationship with Maguire after Icac issued a summons for her to appear at an inquiry into Maguire’s conduct last year.

“It was a very difficult conversation for both of us,” Harley said, noting the former premier was a “very private person”. He told the inquiry he left the meeting with Berejiklian believing the relationship had been “historic in nature” but later found out it had been more “recent”.

Related: Why is Icac examining the public and private lives of Gladys Berejiklian?

“It wasn’t a question we went to as part of that initial conversation, as I say you can imagine it was a very difficult conversation for both of us. It is a very private matter for the former premier who is inherently a very private person, so we didn’t go into detail about when it commenced or when it finished,” he said.

Harley told the inquiry he believed that only Berejiklian could have decided whether the relationship placed her in a position of conflict, but that if he had known earlier he “might have provided advice” about managing it.

Under cross-examination from Berejiklian’s lawyer, Harley gave an impassioned defence of his former boss, saying he had never met anyone in politics “more fiercely committed to public service and serving the people of the state”.

“The community has always come first for premier Berejiklian,” he said.

Harley categorically denied having ever suspected Berejiklian had treated Maguire differently to other MPs in the parliament.

“It’s telling to note that from the time I joined the premier’s office in or around May 2017 through to the time of the byelection in August or September 2018, I can’t recall a single occasion when Ms Berejiklian raised with me either Mr Maguire or the Wagga Wagga electorate. Not a single occasion,” he said.