Situated on the outskirts of the regional New South Wales town of Wagga Wagga, just behind a truck rental lot, is a hulking shooting association clubhouse and convention centre that has unexpectedly brought down one of the most powerful and influential political leaders in Australia.
Gladys Berejiklian's sensational resignation on Friday afternoon was made following an announcement by the Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) that it was now investigating whether the Premier herself breached public trust.
The essence of ICAC's investigation, according to their statement, is whether she made public decisions that were in conflict with her personal relationship with disgraced MP Daryl Maguire, who is also at the centre of a corruption probe.
The Premier on Friday maintained that she executed her duties with the highest level of integrity. She has also decided to leave the parliament, triggering a by-election.
But how is it that a grant to an obscure shooting association has triggered the resignation of the Premier?
An unusual grant process
AAP: Dean Lewins
)The Australian Clay Target Association (ACTA) grant came to the attention of ICAC investigators during their initial inquiry into Mr Maguire in 2020, but in a very limited way.
Investigators were focused on the business dealings of Mr Maguire, particularly around a company called G8 Way International, and whether he had used his position in public office for private benefit.
Mr Maguire admitted in an ICAC hearing that he secretly directed the company with his business partner Phil Elliott.
According to Mr Elliott's evidence to ICAC, Mr Maguire suggested to the then-CEO of the Clay Target Association, Tony Turner, that he contact Mr Elliott about purchasing chairs for the convention centre from China.
G8 Way expected to make a small commission on the deal, Mr Elliott told the inquiry. Through his secret interest in the company, Mr Maguire stood to profit from the deal.
ABC News
)But there was much more to this grant and the club development than these fleeting references.
At the conclusion of its sensational public hearings last October, and almost as an afterthought, ICAC published a 3,000-page exhibit of other dealings with Mr Maguire that was largely not featured in the public hearings.
Buried in this document was an interview an ICAC investigator had with Mr Turner.
It revealed an unusual process in the grant funding: an announcement was made by Mr Maguire for $5.5m in funding in January 2017, but months later, the club had received no formal paperwork.
"It was really scant in detail, to be honest. I mean, I'm sitting there in February and March, April, May, without any signed documents," Mr Turner told the ICAC investigator.
"An announcement was made that we'd been given the $5.5 million, and I received nothing else after that."
He said that when he called Mr Maguire to discuss the issue, the MP told him: "No, it is just a simple case of where is the money going to come from within a portfolio. It's got nothing to do with you, this is an internal [matter]."
Mr Turner said it was not until May or June that he received correspondence from the government, but he was surprised to find he was now dealing with Infrastructure NSW and not the Office of Sport.
"We didn't report back to the government, we didn't provide them with any plans, any. We gave them nothing up until about June," he said.
The ICAC investigator put to Mr Turner: "So some person said, 'We're going to give you five point whatever million dollars,' and there's nothing to follow that, whatsoever?"
Mr Turner, who is recorded as chuckling at the time, replied: "I can assure you I was — I was sweating bricks and so was our executive."
He said Mr Maguire, "was saying it's right. It's — it's been passed, you just keep going. It's all been, it's all been approved, everything's fine."
Grant funding reserved from fund overseen by Berejiklian
7.30 began looking further into the administration and decision-making of the grant.
The grant was ultimately awarded through what is known as the Regional Growth Environment and Tourism Fund. Despite that fund being heavily oversubscribed, this single grant was awarded through a non-competitive process outside the usual merit-based scheme.
In NSW, grants can be funded within specific programs, but they are generally sourced from larger funding pools. One of the major grant funding pools is known as the Restart NSW Fund, which is designed to bankroll infrastructure projects. The treasurer of the day oversees the fund.
Last year, 7.30 revealed the source of the ACTA grant funding was the Restart NSW Fund, where a "funding reservation" was made in December 2016. These types of reservation must ordinarily go through the Expenditure Review Committee of cabinet, which is chaired by the treasurer.
At that time, the treasurer was Gladys Berejiklian.
AAP: Joel Carrett
)Anthony Whealy, a former ICAC assistant commissioner and director of the Centre for Public Integrity, told 7.30 last year that if Ms Berejiklian had taken part in that decision at the time, it could give rise to a conflict of interest.
"Should she sit on a decision granting that project now in that, of course, [Mr Maguire is] one of the proponents of it, and indeed, a vocal and fierce advocate for it?" he said. "I think that most people would think that there is a conflict of interest."
The Premier sought to downplay her role in awarding the grant.
She said last year, "I understand all those arrangements went through the normal processes. I don't intervene in those processes."
She later said: "As treasurer, you oversee all funds that are obviously going through but that is up to the relevant minister and I wasn't the relevant minister."
ICAC inquiry continues
Supplied: Sydney Criminal Lawyers
)Shortly after 7.30 revealed the Premier's potential role in the funding reservation, ICAC announced it was undertaking further investigative steps.
Behind the scenes, ICAC investigators began contacting current and former members of the ACTA. It also issued the club itself with a sweeping notice to produce documents.
While the focus of the Commission's inquiries was broad at the time, more indications emerged that they were looking at the role of the Premier when they sought access to grant documents from various government agencies.
Following 7.30's program, the NSW Upper House also voted on a motion put forward by Greens MLC David Shoebridge to gain access to documents about the grant process using the powerful subpoena powers the NSW parliament possesses.
Those documents were made public in August this year, and revealed far more about the Premier's role in the grant process than had previously been disclosed.
AAP: Dean Lewins
)The documents reveal Mr Maguire first wrote to Ms Berejiklian on behalf of the then-CEO of the Clay Target Association on January 27, 2016, seeking funding from the NSW government, right at the outset of the process.
Ms Berejiklian's response on February 18, 2016, referred him to then-sports minister Stuart Ayres: "The Minister will respond to you on behalf of the NSW government. Thank you for bringing Mr Turner's request to the government's attention."
But Mr Ayres initially declined to support grant funding for the project.
In a March 14, 2016 letter to Mr Maguire, he wrote: "The project falls outside the scope of current Sport and Recreation funding programs, as the funding amount sought is in excess of the maximum amount available under current grant programs."
What went on behind the scenes is unclear, and may be one of the areas that the public ICAC hearings will explore. But after this letter, the Office of Sport subsequently chose to support a funding submission for the ACTA grant and put one forward to the Expenditure Review Committee.
Mr Ayres has previously declined to comment on the matter.
Grant initially failed to meet assessment criteria
ABC News
)The documents also revealed the grant failed an initial cost-benefit analysis undertaken in April 2017 by the Department of Industry, scoring 0.88. All grants must receive a cost-benefit ratio above one.
The assessment found it was "highly unlikely that the conference facility will attract significant numbers of international and interstate visitors to NSW" and concluded the estimated number of international visitors to the Wagga shooting facility "appears erroneous".
It was then reassessed in July 2017 and scored 1.10, meeting the assessment criteria.
The documents revealed that the reassessment appears to have been undertaken following a direct intervention from Ms Berejiklian.
The executive director of Regional NSW, Chris Hanger, wrote to Infrastructure NSW CEO Jim Betts on June 1, 2017, requesting the clay target grant and three other unrelated grants be considered for approval.
In that letter, Mr Hanger wrote: "The Department's Investment Appraisal Unit has assessed the updated business case provided by ACTA for the development of a large clubhouse/conference facility and associated infrastructure at their existing site in Wagga Wagga following a request by the Premier."
Weeks later, Ms Berejiklian's interest in the approval of the grant was once again raised by other senior NSW officials.
In a further email from deputy secretary of Regional NSW, Gary Barnes, on June 20, 2017, Mr Barnes provided an update on the approval of the clay target funding to a senior staffer in the Premier's office.
Mr Barnes indicated the funding would soon be approved, and then wrote in the email: "Just wanted you in the loop given Premier's interest."
7.30 put detailed questions to the Premier, but she declined to provide any on-the-record response.
When questioned at her daily press conference, she said that "all proper processes were followed" and asked 7.30 to "please respect this press conference".
Pressure mounts on Berejiklian
Since August, pressure continued to mount on Ms Berejiklian and she faced growing questions at her daily press conference about whether she had become a focus of ICAC's inquiry.
That speculation came to an abrupt halt on Friday when ICAC published its statement advising it was now investigating the Premier over her dealings with Mr Maguire and her role in awarding the ACTA grant, and another grant to the Riverina Conservatorium of Music.
Separately, it is also investigating whether she failed to report Mr Maguire's potential corrupt conduct and "whether she was liable to allow or encourage the occurrence of corrupt conduct by Mr Maguire".
The stakes are high for the Premier. A breach of the ministerial code of conduct in NSW could amount to a finding of corrupt conduct.
ICAC is scheduled to hold public hearings from October 18 for three weeks. It's likely the Premier will be called to give evidence and it's likely she will face tough questions about the grant process and about her other dealings in public office with Mr Maguire.
ICAC has not published a witness list yet, but the public hearings could also feature some unexpectedly senior members of government as witnesses.
The complicated and winding grant process involved other senior members of the NSW government including Tourism Minister Stuart Ayres and Deputy Premier John Barilaro.
While there is no suggestion they have engaged in improper conduct, the potential spectacle of some of the most senior members of government being summoned to a corruption inquiry to explain what they knew about a grant to a local shooting club is likely to be a remarkable event.
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2021-10-02 18:50:16Z
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