Calls for premier Gladys Berejiklian to address latest Daryl Maguire controversy

Calls for Gladys Berejiklian to address the latest Daryl Maguire corruption controversy after she dodged questions by telling media to ‘respect this press conference’

• Ms Berejiklian has fired back at reporter who tried to ask her about ex-boyfriend
• NSW premier giving her latest update on state’s outbreak on Monday morning 
• But reporter changed topic by asking her about new reports about disgraced MP
• Report said she intervened in assessment of a $5.5million grant in his electorate
• Ms Berejiklian hit back and told the journalist to ‘respect this press conference’ 
• Ben Fordham said Ms Berejiklian needed to ‘respect this was taxpayers’ money’ 

By Brett Lackey and Charlie Coe For Daily Mail Australia

Published: 01:54 BST, 10 August 2021 | Updated: 01:57 BST, 10 August 2021

Gladys Berejiklian is under renewed pressure to address her relationship with a disgraced former MP and the granting of public funds to a project in his electorate. 

The NSW premier was asked about her ex-boyfriend Daryl McGuire and the $5.5million grant at Monday’s Covid update, leading her to tell the journalist to ‘respect this press conference’.

Ms Berejiklian’s personal life came under intense public scrutiny last October when she admitted she had ‘a close personal relationship’ with Mr Maguire to an ICAC corruption inquiry investigating him. 

NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian (pictured right) has again come under scrutiny over her relationship with disgraced former MP Daryl McGuire (pictured left) 

Dodging the question following a new 7.30 report segment into the questionable land deal sparked backlash the next morning.

‘I think the premier needs to respect this is taxpayers’ money and she was in a secret relationship with the bloke who was lobbying for the money,’ 2GB radio host Ben Fordham said on Tuesday.

‘My personal opinion is that the premier is as straight as an arrow and I don’t believe she does favours for mates when it comes to funding. 

‘But in these circumstances she needs to offer more detail.’

Newly unearthed documents suggest that Ms Berejiklian might have had more involvement than she disclosed in the funding being secured for an upgrade and conference centre at the Wagga Wagga clay target association.

The project initially failed a cost-benefit analysis because the facilities would likely not attract interstate visitors. 

However, the project was later reassessed and the funds granted with internal emails appearing to show an intervention was made Ms Berejiklian. 

At Monday’s press conference, 7.30 report’s Paul Farrell tried to quiz the premier on the new documents – only to be angrily rebuffed.

Ms Berejiklian was pressed by a journalist as Monday’s state Covid update on her ex-boyfriend 

‘What you are putting forward is ridiculous as all proper processes were followed,’ she said firmly.  

Farrell then referred to the part of the report – aired on ABC’s 7.30 – that claimed Ms Berejiklian wrote to Mr Maguire to thank him for bringing the project to the government’s attention.  

‘Wasn’t that a serious conflict of interest given you were in a relationship at the time?’ he asked. 

‘I refer you to my previous answer and please respect this press conference,’ Ms Berejiklian replied.

‘Any other questions?’

Gladys Berejiklian has been forced to awkwardly sidestep questions about her ex-boyfriend Daryl Maguire during a tense exchange at her daily Covid-19 press conference

Ben Fordham said the premier refusing to provide any sort of detail in her answer did not create the right impression. 

‘If she was a big believer in the gun club in Wagga Wagga or the conference centre, well that’s fine and her relationship with McGuire would have played no part in her decision.’ he said.

‘And if that’s the case she should say that – I don’t think the answer she gave yesterday went far enough.’  

The bombshell confession about Ms Berejiklian relationship not only shocked the public but also floored her own parliamentary colleagues.

One longtime colleague went as far as describing Mr Maguire as ‘the last bloke you’d think she’d have a relationship with’.

Ms Berejiklian pictured with her ex-boyfriend. Her personal life came under intense public scrutiny last October when she admitted to an ICAC corruption inquiry she had ‘a close personal relationship’ with Mr Maguire

Not even the premier’s family or closest friends had any idea about the five-year relationship carried out behind closed doors until shortly before the inquiry began. 

At the time, a resilient Ms Berejiklian admitted she had ‘stuffed up’ in her personal life as she pressed on with leading her state through a health crisis.

Mr Berejiklian said in May she believed she had grown from the lessons she learned from the scandal and that she became more inspired and infused with a greater sense of responsibility than ever before. 

‘If you’ve done nothing wrong, well then you power through and that was always my position,’ she told the Australian Financial Review Magazine.

‘I’m far more rational than emotional and I kind of knew I’ve done nothing wrong. I also thought the community wanted me there, they wanted me to continue doing the job I was doing.’ 

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