Premier Gladys Berejiklian agreed to meet with two publicans with criminal histories at the behest of her secret partner Daryl Maguire after her own Racing and Gaming Ministers allegedly refused.
The October 2017 meeting over "gaming issues" was attended by Ms Berejiklian, Mr Maguire and three publicans, one who had been convicted of arson and attempted insurance fraud and another who had been found guilty of illegally owning poker machines.
Gladys Berejiklian agreed to meet with two publicans with criminal histories after another minister rejected Daryl Maguire's 'insistent' requests. Credit:AAP, Janie Barrett
The third publican at the meeting, who has no criminal history, told The Sydney Morning Herald that Mr Maguire arranged access to the Premier for the group after their attempts to meet with more junior ministers proved futile.
"Daryl organised the meeting with Gladys for us as the former Ministers for Gaming and Racing refused to see us," Wagga Wagga publican Greg Evans said on Tuesday.
"Unfortunately, despite a positive meeting, there was no positive outcome from the meeting."
Mr Evans said the former Gaming and Racing Ministers who refused to meet with the group included Paul Toole, Troy Grant and George Souris.
Mr Grant confirmed to the Herald late on Tuesday he refused to meet the group.
"It is correct I declined Maguire's repeated and very insistent requests for me to meet with them," he told the Herald, adding he had "no idea" about the meeting Ms Berejiklian held.
None of the other ministers nor Ms Berejiklian responded to a request for comment about Mr Evans’ claim before publication.
The secret relationship between Mr Maguire, the disgraced former member for Wagga Wagga, and Ms Berejiklian was sensationally revealed on Monday.
Mr Maguire has been the subject of a four-week public probe by the ICAC, investigating whether he misused his public office in the pursuit of his own financial interests.
In a day of further dramatic developments, the Opposition Leader Jodi McKay called the Premier "completely delusional" in a fiery parliamentary question time for insisting she acted at all times in accordance with her obligations.
Ms Berejiklian stressed for a second day that she did nothing wrong throughout her five-year relationship with the disgraced MP, as her party room gave her unwavering support.
And with Mr Maguire to front the corruption commission on Wednesday morning, the opposition is also expected to move a motion of no confidence in the Premier.
Revelations of the relationship have renewed scrutiny over the meeting with the publicans which was first reported in the Herald in 2018.
Ms Berejiklian has previously defended her decision in Parliament to attend the meeting, saying she had never met any of the group before.
"They raised with me concerns about country hotel lessors," she said. "They felt they had been disadvantaged by amendments to the relevant legislation passed by the previous Labor government.
Illustration: Matt Golding
Ms Berejiklian said she stood by her decision to meet with community members during regional visits.
"They explained to me the hardship their families had faced … I listened to their concerns and I undertook to pass them on to the relevant Minister, which I did."
Mr Evans said that as a result of meeting, the publicans were provided with an opportunity to lodge a submission with the Independent Liquor and Gaming Authority.
He added that Mr Maguire had been acting in the "best interests" of the hotel owners who had been disadvantaged by the legislation.
NSW shadow attorney-general Paul Lynch said the recent events cast a different light on the meeting.
"When we raised this in 2018 we wanted to know whether the Premier knew of the background with who she met," he said.
"What we've heard recently may explain any lack of proper caution in deciding who to meet with."
The other two publicans at the meeting were Gino Scutti and Nicholas Tinning.
Scutti, the former owner of the Carrathool Family Hotel, was convicted in 2013 of burning down his pub three years earlier.
He was not jailed despite police saying a custodial sentence was warranted because of the disregard he showed for public safety.
The Wagga Local Court magistrate, taking into account Scutti's lack of criminal history and discovery that his wife had a terminal illness, served him with a suspended jail sentence.
Scutti's lawyer told a local court that the fire, and the subsequent submission of a false report to insurer QBE, were part of a "hare-brained scheme".
He was handed a suspended two-year sentence and a good behaviour bond for the charges of damaging a property by fire and publishing false information.
Scutti had earlier complained that his retirement security had been placed in jeopardy after the pub, which he had bought via lease, had its poker machines sold by its ultimate owner after changes to state law in 2002.
Tinning, who was also present at the meeting, pleaded guilty in April 2017 to illegally possessing five poker machines and parts following an investigation by Liquor and Gaming NSW.
He was fined $7500 in the same court.
Tinning is a Wagga-based hotel broker. Tinning and Scutti did not respond to the Herald's calls on Tuesday.
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Carrie Fellner is an investigative reporter for The Sydney Morning Herald.
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