Former NSW premier Gladys Berejiklian will be called before the state's corruption watchdog during a public hearing next week.
Key points:
- Counsel Assisting Scott Robertson said the hearing may spill into a third week
- Other witnesses called included Ms Berejiklian's former chiefs of staff
- An executive director in the Department of Regional NSW is giving evidence today
The Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) is investigating whether Ms Berejiklian breached public trust or turned a blind eye to alleged corruption in connection to grants awarded in the electorate of her then-secret boyfriend, disgraced MP Daryl Maguire.
According to a witness list published by the watchdog this morning, Ms Berejiklian is due to be called on Thursday and Friday.
Mr Maguire will appear on Wednesday, while former deputy Premier John Barilaro is expected to be called on Monday.
Other witnesses listed before Ms Berejiklian include Neil Harley, who was her chief of staff when she resigned, and Sarah Cruickshank, who was in that role during part of the period ICAC is examining.
The list is subject to change.
Counsel assisting Scott Robertson believes the hearings may need to spill into a third week.
The ICAC has already been shown a clip of a private compulsory examination of Ms Berejiklian on September 18.
In that short video, she said she didn't suspect Mr Maguire had engaged in corrupt conduct when she called for his resignation in 2018.
When she resigned as premier, Ms Berejiklian denied wrongdoing and said she always acted with the highest degree of integrity.
Her relationship with Mr Maguire, the former Wagga Wagga MP, was revealed during her appearance before the commission last year.
It began around the time of the 2015 state election, Ms Berejiklian said, and lasted about five years.
The ICAC is using two grants for projects in Wagga Wagga as case studies to consider whether there was a conflict between Ms Berejiklian's public duties and her private life.
The commission has this week been told a $5.5 million grant to the Australian Clay Target Association in 2016/2017 had a business case which "didn't stack up".
It was repeatedly allocated a "low priority" until late 2016.
That proposal went before cabinet's expenditure review committee in December that year, when Ms Berejiklian was treasurer and chair.
Her predecessor, Mike Baird, yesterday told the watchdog her relationship should have been declared.
He also believed Ms Berejiklian could have managed any potential conflict due to her integrity.
Today's witness, Chris Hanger, an executive director in the Department of Regional NSW, said by the time the item got to his team the grant was "approved" with conditions, given it had a cabinet decision backing it.
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2021-10-20 23:07:12Z
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