ICAC has handed down its findings into former NSW premier, and recent Optus hire, Gladys Berejiklian.
The New South Wales Independent Commission Against Corruption made findings of “corrupt conduct against two individuals” – Berejiklian, and former Liberal MP, Daryl Maguire.
The report was delivered to parliament at 9:15 am, and was published online shortly after.
The “serious corrupt conduct” finding against Berejilkian from the ICAC report read as follows:
- The Commission finds 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 to ACTA, without disclosing her close personal relationship with Mr Maguire, when she was in a position of a conflict of interest between her public duty and her private interest, which could objectively have the potential to influence the performance of her public duty.
- The Commission also finds that in the same period, Ms Berejiklian partially exercised her official functions, in connection with funding promised to ACTA, influenced by the existence of her close personal relationship with Mr Maguire.
- The Commission finds that Ms Berejiklian took a number of actions in relation to the ACTA proposal in circumstances where she knew that Mr Maguire was its principal proponent.
- These included, when she was treasurer, causing the proposal to be included on the agenda and supporting it at the ERC meeting on 14 December 2016 and when she was premier, causing steps to be taken by staff from her office to follow up on the progress of the ACTA proposal following the ERC ACTA decision.
- This included by communicating a request that the initial benefit–cost ratio (BCR) calculation of 0.88, by the Department of Premier and Cabinet Investment Appraisal Unit, be revisited. This ultimately led to it achieving a BCR satisfactory for Infrastructure NSW to approve its funding.
