When she announced her resignation from Parliament on October 1, the then premier Gladys Berejiklian said she could not predict how long it would take the state’s anti-corruption agency to complete its investigation into her dealings with former NSW Liberal MP Daryl Maguire, “let alone deliver a report”.
She was right. History has shown that the length of time between the NSW Independent Commission Against Corruption holding public hearings in an inquiry and delivering a final report is unpredictable. It takes months, at best. Findings in some large and complex inquiries have taken years.
Former premier Gladys Berejiklian addresses the media as she leaves ICAC on Monday.Credit:Nick Moir
The ICAC has yet to issue its report in Operation Aero, a 2019 inquiry into political fundraising by the NSW Labor Party. Hearings in that inquiry ended almost two years ago, in December that year.
Operation Aero famously featured allegations that a Chinese billionaire and property developer Huang Xiangmo delivered $100,000 in cash in an Aldi plastic bag to then party boss Jamie Clements in 2015, contrary to a ban on political donations from developers. Both men have denied the allegation.
A spokeswoman for the ICAC said on Monday that “the Operation Aero report is under preparation, and will be furnished to Parliament and made public in due course”.
A 2014 inquiry into NSW Liberal Party fundraising during the 2011 state election, Operation Spicer, delivered a final report in 2016. The report was “principally delayed by litigation, legislative changes and the need to ensure that parties were afforded procedural fairness,” the ICAC said in a media release at the time.
On Monday, the ICAC completed its 11-day public hearing in Operation Keppel, its inquiry into Mr Maguire and Ms Berejiklian. The former premier has insisted she did not believe her secret relationship with Mr Maguire constituted a conflict of interest with her public duties that needed to be disclosed to her ministerial colleagues.
The ICAC will now engage in a process behind closed doors, during which lawyers for the parties file confidential written submissions relating to the watchdog’s potential findings.
The commission takes those submissions into consideration before finalising its report, in which it may make findings of corrupt conduct against named individuals. In serious cases, it may also recommend the NSW Director of Public Prosecutions consider criminal charges against particular parties.
The relatively small number of witnesses and allegations in this inquiry, compared with some high-profile and complex investigations, may hasten the process.
Sophie Callan, SC, (right) is representing Gladys Berejiklian at the ICAC.Credit:Kate Geraghty
“While we would not comment specifically on matters in which reports are still in preparation, the commission considers a public inquiry to be complete as at the date of receipt of final submissions from parties who are granted leave to appear at the public inquiry,” the ICAC’s spokeswoman said.
The “corporate goal” for finalising a report after that date was two months, or 60 days, if the public inquiry ran for five days or fewer, and three months, or 90 days, in other cases.
Ms Berejiklian has a team of high-powered barristers acting for her, including Sydney barristers Bret Walker, SC, and Sophie Callan, SC.
Ms Callan was the prosecutor in the recent trial of former NSW Labor ministers Eddie Obeid and Ian Macdonald, and Mr Obeid’s son Moses. All three men have received prison sentences for their role in a conspiracy to commit misconduct in public office relating to a lucrative coal exploration licence over the Obeid family’s Bylong Valley farm.
Ms Berejiklian’s legal team will be arguing forcefully that no adverse findings should be made about their client.
The inquiry now enters a phase where written advocacy is key, and the long wait begins.
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2021-11-01 18:00:00Z
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