Watch live: NSW Premier fronts ICAC
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Coffee break
We're taking a short morning tea break.
Now is the time to stretch your legs, get coffee, snacks (dare I say popcorn?)
It has been a postively explosive morning at the corruption watchdog. ICYMI:
- Premier Gladys Berejiklian was in a close personal relationship with Mr Maguire
- Phone calls between the two have been played, revealing some of what Ms Berejiklian knew about a trip Mr Maguire was planning to China, in which she told him it was 'none of her business'
- The Premier said: "The outcome was that my office says you cannot go. And that is a good outcome for the people of the state. It's because I allow the normal process to take place, which was that a member of Parliament approaches the proper channels.
'None of my business'
The Premier is visibly uncomfortable, even wincing, at hearing the next phone tap because of the graphic language. (It was so "offensive" that for the first playback the live stream was paused.)
This is a phone call between Ms Berejiklian and Mr Maguire around the time of the China trip. On the call she tells Mr Maguire she had received a call from Ms Cruickshank with concerns about his planned travel.
"They seem to think it's in your electorate. I didn't say anything," she tells Mr Maguire on the call. "It's none of my business, I'm just letting you know." Mr Maguire goes on to use colourful words to describe why he wanted to go to ChinaL
"I will [interfere]... these bureaucrats don't care... they're shaking hands, they are sucking people's dicks and they areturning up to everything and they do nothing."
In the hearing room Mr Robertson suggested to the Premier that she was trying to signal to him if he's raising issues they should be dealt with through "the front door."
Ms Berejiklian said: "It would be would be a fair summary to say that anybody who raised anything of that nature with me, I would say go through the proper process."
Watch: Premier admits to relationship with ex-MP
Here's the exchange at ICAC where the NSW Premier admitted she was in a personal relationship with ex-MP Daryl Maguire, adding that the relationship was kept private because she is a "very private person".
'Highly inappropriate' letter
A bit more on "that" trip to China. Mr Maguire sent a letter, which he cc'd the office of then-Trade Minister Niall Blair.
In the letter he wrote that Australian governments would reconsider future joint ventures with Chinese companies over the issue, which was causing "loss of face" for his political leaders.
Last week Ms Berejiklian's former chief of staff Sarah Cruickshank later recalled the letter during her own evidence, saying he had no authority to speak that way, describing Mr Maguire's travel plan as "ridiculous".
"We've got this random MP proposing to fly to China before we go on an official trade mission. The simple reality is ... not even the Minister of Trade or the Premier would write a letter in that tone," she said.
The Premier agreed, saying it was "highly inappropriate."
First phone tap played about proposed China trip
We are now hearing about how the Premier's office was forced to intervene to stop Mr Maguire from travelling to China when he made threats to visit the country at the same time as the Trade Minister in 2017.
The commission heard audio of a phone call between Ms Berejiklian and Mr Maguire, where he is talking about his plan to travel to China.
Last week a government staffer told the commission he was forwarded an "appalling and provocative" letter from Mr Maguire in August 2017, indicating that he planned to travel to China.
Mr Maguire had sent the letter to a Chinese conglomerate after it attempted to exit a joint venture with an oaten hay company - UWE Commodities - with which he had financial ties.
ICAC has already heard Mr Maguire was interested in being appointed to the board of UWE, but the Premier says she had no idea about this at the time.
"I don't have a recollection Mr Robertson... but can I also stress, if he had I wouldn't have known what that meant. This is a good example of where a member of Parliament wanted to achieve something... my impression was it was about job losses."
Robertson asking nature of their relationship
Mr Robertson is now asking the Premier if there was an example, "when you were in a personal relationship with him, where you would take charge of where to encourage a particular course of action or discourage a particular course of action?"
Ms Berejiklian has one word: "Never."
She goes on to say that she would "only take action, which was in the public interest. For example, if he wanted a road upgraded in his electorate, which I thought was an important thing to do. Well then I would perhaps raise that with the relevant minister as I would for any other member of parliament."
Premier shared a private relationship with Maguire
Ms Berejiklian and Mr Maguire shared a private relationship during the time he was in office. This is something we have not heard before today.
The commission is hearing evidence from the Premier that the relationship was kept private, because she always tried to compartmentalise her private life away from her public role in serving the state of NSW.
Ms Berejiklian said she was never concerned that he might be attempting to use the influence of his office, in order to promote either his own business activities or those of others.
"Can I say, I would never, ever, never, ever turned a blind eye from any responsibility I had to disclose any wrongdoing that I saw, or any activity that I thought was not in keeping with what a member of Parliament should be doing and I want to make that very clear."
You've got mail
We're now hearing about when Mr Maguire forwarded to Ms Berejiklian, when she was Treasurer, an email chain in which he was complaining about a planning position taken by Planning Minister Rob Stokes.
Premier Berejiklian is giving evidence at ICAC.
Asked what she understood Mr Maguire to be suggesting, by forwarding the email thread, she said: "I'm sorry I have no recollection, honestly. It was so long ago and as I said, I get thousands of emails... I can only speculate that I would have ignored it, because it would have gone to [other] people."
Also the Premier gets 46,000 emails a year. Yowza.
Favourable treatment 'not to my recollection'
Mr Robertson is now asking if, prior to her appointment as Premier, Mr Maguire ever sought to encourage Ms Berejiklian to "take steps steps that were favourable to any developer or vendor" of property.
"Absolutely not to my recollection," she said.
We're now really getting down to business - old email and text message exchanges between Mr Maguire and Ms Berejiklian are now being tendered.
Not Premier's first time at ICAC to discuss Maguire
Big question from Mr Robertson now: "Were you aware of any instance in which Mr Maguire sought or obtained a commission or other payment?"
"I wasn't aware of any specific details but I was aware he had those arrangements and I assumed he disclosed them at the appropriate time," Ms Berejiklian said.
We have also just learned Ms Berejiklian already gave evidence at a previously suppressed compulsory examination with ICAC on August 16 this year.
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2020-10-12 00:09:00Z
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