NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian has resigned after the state’s anti-corruption watchdog announced that it would investigate her over her ties to former MP Daryl Maguire.  

“I have no option but to resign from the office of Premier,” she announced.

The Premier will also be leaving parliament as soon as a by-election for her seat can be held, but will remain Premier until her successor is anointed.

Gladys Berejiklian ascended to the position of NSW Premier in early 2017. 

The Premier did not accept questions from journalists after stating that she had always exercised her duties with “the highest levels of integrity”. 

The Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) said in a statement that it was investigating whether or not the NSW Premier had “exercised public functions” in a position of conflict between her public duties and private relationship with the former MP. 

ICAC stated that she would be investigated over the grant funding to the Australian Clay Target Association in 2016/17 and the grant funding to the Riverina Conservatorium of Music in Wagga Wagga in 2018. 

The investigation will be looking into how her relationship with Mr Maguire, who was then the Wagga Wagga MP, affected those arrangements and created a breach of public trust or partial exercise of official functions. 

Aside from this, ICAC will also investigate whether the Premier should have “suspected on reasonable grounds” that Mr Maguire may have engaged in corrupt conduct, and failed to report him to ICAC as required. 

The investigation will see whether or not she “was liable to allow or encourage” his conduct. 

A public inquiry on the matter will be held from October 18 and will last about 10 days. It will be overseen by ICAC Assistant Commissioner Ruth McColl SC. 

Former state MP Daryl Maguire was accused of abusing his public office while serving between 2012 and 2018, using it and parliamentary resources to improperly gain a benefit for himself or for G8way International, a company he allegedly “effectively controlled”. 

The former state MP was forced to quit the NSW Government in 2018 after a separate ICAC inquiry received evidence that he sought payments to help broker deals for property developers. 

The pair’s five-year relationship was kept secret until Gladys Berejiklian disclosed it at an ICAC hearing in October 2020. 

With AAP

Eliza Sayon

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Eliza is a content producer and editor at Public Spectrum. She is an experienced writer on topics related to the government and to the public, as well as stories that uplift and improve the community.

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