Gladys Berejiklian’s boyfriend Arthur Moses was at work in the NSW Supreme Court when ICAC branded his girlfriend corrupt in their damning report.
The high-flying barrister was representing Network Ten in their legal action against former political editor Peter van Onselen after 9am, just as the corruption watchdog’s report was published.
He ducked out of pre-hearing discussions, telling colleagues he had to ‘make a call’ moments after ICAC released its report making findings of serious corrupt conduct against Ms Berejiklian, over her ‘secret lovers’ relationship with her ex, Daryl Maguire.
When he returned to courtroom 7D some 15 minutes later, one colleague asked Mr Moses if he was alright and put a supportive arm around him.
Mr Moses replied he was fine and returned to the case shortly after, making his opening address to the court without any mention of his girlfriend’s plight.
Gladys Berejiklian’s boyfriend Arthur Moses was at work in the NSW Supreme Court when ICAC branded his girlfriend corrupt in their damning report (pictured together last week)
Mr Moses (pictured earlier this month) was representing Network Ten in their legal action against former political editor Peter van Onselen after 9am, just as the corruption watchdog’s report was published
The Commission found that ‘Ms Berejiklian engaged in serious corrupt conduct by breaching public trust in 2016 and 2017 through exercising her official functions in relation to funding promised and/or awarded’.
The corruption involved Ms Berejiklian’s support for a gun club funding in Mr Maguire’s electorate and that $20million in funding was reserved for the Riverina Conservatorium of Music, also in his electorate.
The ICAC does not believe the former premier should be prosecuted, saying ‘The Commission is not of the opinion that consideration should be given to obtaining the advice of the (Director of Public Prosecutions) with respect to the prosecution of Ms Berejiklian for any offence.’
But it said ‘consideration should be given to obtaining the advice of the DPP about the prosecution of Mr Maguire’ and two of his business associates.
Former NSW premier Gladys Berejiklian (pictured) refused to answer questions on Thursday morning. NCA Newswire photo
ICAC found that Mr Maguire improperly used his office and the resources he had access as an MP between 2012 and August 2018.
He did so to benefit G8wayInternational Pty Ltd, it found, ‘a company of which he was in substance a director and whose profits he had an arrangement to share with others’.
During its investigation of Mr Maguire, ICAC became aware of the relationship between him and Ms Berejiklian.
‘The investigation revealed them discussing aspects of Mr Maguire’s conduct that the Commission was investigating and Ms Berejiklian’s participation in grant decisions favouring projects in his electorate,’ it said.
As the investigation continued, the ICAC found that ‘her acts and omissions gave rise to questions as to whether she had: seriously misused her public offices; breached the NSW Ministerial Code of Conduct …
‘Failed to exercise her duty under section 11 of the ICAC Act to report any matter that she suspected on reasonable grounds concerned, or may concern, corrupt conduct in relation to the conduct of Mr Maguire …
‘And engaged in conduct that was liable to allow or encourage the occurrence of corrupt conduct by Mr Maguire such as could constitute serious corrupt conduct within the meaning of the ICAC Act.’
Ms Berejiklian refused to answer questions on Thursday morning as the commission that exposed her secret love life at the peak of her popularity prepared to deliver its report into the former NSW premier’s relationship with Mr Maguire.
She left her home in a car clutching a $5,500 Prada bag on a historic day for her and Australian politics.
ICAC tabled the long-awaited report in the NSW parliament on Thursday morning, more than 600 days after public hearings ended.
It investigated whether Ms Berejiklian breached public trust by failing to disclose her long-time personal relationship with then-MP Daryl Maguire while treasurer and premier.
That clandestine relationship became publicly known 990 days ago, when Ms Berejiklian admitted it in October 2020 in an ICAC hearing.
The commission’s inquiry began as an investigation into possible corrupt conduct by Mr Maguire but expanded to Ms Berejiklian after she was compelled to reveal the relationship in public hearings in 2020.
She denied wrongdoing and retained office, only to step down when ICAC in late-2021 began investigating her conduct.
Even after the relationship was exposed, Ms Berejiklian had widespread public support, with net approval ratings of more than 35 per cent.
After quitting office in October 2021, she turned down an opportunity to run for federal parliament and moved into the private sector as an Optus executive.
The commission has said delays were caused by complex legal issues and the vast volume of submissions it had to scrutinise.
It repeatedly asked for extensions and more funding to complete its investigations.
The NSW Labor government on Wednesday backed a parliamentary committee’s call for ICAC to set deadlines for future investigations and measure its performance against them.
‘(The changes) will increase transparency and public accountability of the ICAC’s reporting functions without imposing inflexible restrictions on the ICAC,’ the government said.
Who is Daryl Maguire and what was his relationship with former NSW premier Gladys Berejiklian?
Daryl Maguire, 64, is a former Liberal MP who represented Wagga Wagga in the NSW Parliament from 1999 to 2018.
In July 2018, he was drawn into the Operation Dasha inquiry by the Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) regarding possible corruption involving Canterbury Council through his association with former councillor Michael Hawatt.
Gladys Berejiklian and Daryl Maguire (behind) who she was in a secret relationship with for years
Mr Maguire resigned from the Liberal Party and from his official roles, but initially refusing to resign from parliament.
But after pressure from many quarters, including then premier Gladys Berejiklian, he relented and resign on August 3.
Appearing before ICAC inquiry in October 2020, Ms Berejiklian agreed she had been in a ‘close personal relationship’ with Mr Maguire from 2015 until August 2020.
She survived that revelation, but a year later resigned as premier and as an MP when she herself came under ICAC’s spotlight.
On Friday, October 29, 2021, Ms Berejiklian had this to say about Mr Maguire: ‘I regarded him a part of my love circle, part of people that I strongly cared for, but I wouldn’t have put him in the same category as my parents or my sisters.
‘I had very strong feelings for him … But I didn’t feel the relationship was at a stage where I would introduce him necessarily to my parents or my sisters or need to declare it, but I don’t want to underscore what I felt.’
