NSW’s corruption watchdog has heard Gladys Berejiklian put a funding proposal on the agenda of a cabinet committee meeting after her then-secret MP boyfriend, Daryl Maguire, “fired up” about having it removed.
Key points:
- Former premier Mike Baird is due to be questioned at the ICAC inquiry.
- His former strategy director advised that a multi-million dollar funding proposal should be delayed.
- The ICAC heard it was returned to the cabinet agenda by then treasurer Gladys Berejiklian.
The Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) is examining multi-million dollar grants awarded to projects in the disgraced MP’s Wagga Wagga electorate.
It’s considering whether Ms Berejiklian, who denies wrongdoing, breached public trust or turned a blind eye to alleged corrupt conduct in connection to the grants, due a conflict created by her undeclared relationship with the ex-MP.
Nigel Blunden, the strategy director of then-premier Mike Baird’s office, today recalled first hearing about a $5.5 million grant proposal for the Australian Clay Target Association in 2016.
But his “robust” advice as of December that year was that the proposal should be delayed because of questions around its urgency and an “inadequate” business case, he told the ICAC.
He also advised the proposal should not go before the expenditure review committee of cabinet.
But written advice to Mr Baird from Mr Blunden, seen by the ICAC, reported the proposal had been “taken off the agenda, but Daryl fired up and Gladys put it back on”.
Ms Berejiklian was the treasurer at the time.
“When you say Daryl’s fired up, is that Daryl fired up to you, picked up the phone to you?” Counsel assisting the commission Scott Robertson asked.
“I can’t recall … perhaps his displeasure was relayed to me,” Mr Blunden said.
“From my recollection, he expressed some concern that it wasn’t on the agenda and it was urgently needed to be on the agenda.”
Mr Robertson followed up: “To who?”
Mr Blunden replied: “I can’t remember precisely who.”
The ICAC heard Mr Blunden’s written recommendation was that the proposal should be opposed.
“Gladys and [then-sports minister Stuart] Ayres want it,” he wrote.
Asked what he meant by a “sweetheart deal”, Mr Blunden told the ICAC he “meant no inference of anything improper”.
“I can’t recall exactly why I used that phrase,” he said.
In earlier written advice, Mr Blunden had jokingly referred to the facility being named “The Maguire International Shooting Centre of Excellence”.
He also wrote of the proposal: “As Joel Goodson famously said, sometimes you’ve gotta say WTF”, referencing the Tom Cruise character in the film “Risky Business”.
The inquiry heard Mr Blunden was included in emails in which colleagues advised Mr Maguire had been “pushing the barrow” on the proposal, but Mr Blunden said he didn’t place any significance on the specific reference to the Wagga Wagga MP.
“Mr Maguire had every right to advocate for funding for this,” he said.
“It was the role of people like myself and the premier’s office or other advisers in other offices to ensure the appropriate scrutiny was placed on them.”
The ICAC has previously learnt Ms Berejiklian had a five-year secret relationship with Mr Maguire from about the time of the 2015 state election.
Mr Baird is due to give evidence after Mr Blunden.