Gladys Gone, page-2

Berejiklian admits ‘close personal relationship’ with Maguire

NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian had a “close personal relationship” with disgraced former Liberal MP Daryl Maguire, and congratulated him on receiving a $5,000 commission, a corruption inquiry has heard.

In an explosive morning hearing at the Independent Commission Against Corruption, Ms Berejiklian said she had begun a relationship with Mr Maguire in 2015 after the state election.

In a text exchange tendered as evidence, Ms Berejiklian congratulated the former Wagga Wagga MP for receiving a $5,000 commission.

Gladys Berejiklian with Daryl Maguire.

Under questioning from counsel assisting the inquiry, Scott Robertson, Ms Berejiklian admitted she was likely to have made her relationship “public” if Mr Maguire had followed through with plans to retire in 2018 - months before he was forced to resign after the Operation Dasher probe.

Asked why she didn’t make the relationship public beforehand, the Premier said “I’m a very private person”.

Despite saying she maintained a “close friendship” for up to 15 years, Ms Berejiklian categorically rejected the assertion she knew about Mr Maguire’s illegitimate business schemes, saying she thought he “disclosed them at the appropriate time”.