Life on the West Island - Serious corrupt conduct

Conservative forces in the West Island state most noted for endemic corruption have railed against the finding that their former NSW premier was found by a detailed ICAC inquiry to have engaged in “serious corrupt conduct.”

This finding came as no real surprise to anyone who watched any of the cringeworthy evidence given before the inquiry by former premier Gladys Berejiklian and her ex-boyfriend Daryl Maguire. In fact, the only puzzle is why it took ICAC so long to state the bleeding obvious – Berejiklian was seriously at fault for concealing her “close personal relationship” with Maguire and his numerous disclosures to her (caught on legally-intercepted phone taps) of corrupt and greedy dealings while he was a serving MP in her government.

As premier, Berejiklian was responsible for administering the parliamentary code of conduct, which unequivocally required such details to be disclosed and entered on the parliamentary register of interests. She claimed that the relationship with Maguire was “not of sufficient importance” to require its disclosure, even though she shared a house and bed with him for five years and was recorded discussing with him their plans for marriage and having children. Maguire is currently facing charges relating to alleged corruption and lying on oath to ICAC.

Writing for Crikey.com, Bernard Keane noted: According to ICAC, Daryl Maguire fits the pattern [of corruption]: an MP on the grift, always looking for an opportunity to make money and unafraid of using his political connections — including his girlfriend, the treasurer and later premier — to exploit them. In corrupt scheme after scheme, the former Wagga Wagga MP abused his office, public resources, code of conduct requirements and basic standards of integrity. It’s traditional “black” or “hard” corruption.

Senior journalist Michael Pascoe was startled by the conduct of public figures who denounced the ICAC findings and rushed to say that Berejiklian was a nice, well-meaning person who had rescued NSW from the effects of catastrophic bushfires and COVID. In his view, the ICAC finding was appropriate and based on the mountain of evidence presented at its inquiry. He contemplated what would have been the result of turning a blind eye to the exposed corruption:

Gladys Berejiklian’s friends, sympathetic followers and sundry political flunkies are unhappy the ICAC found she engaged in “serious corrupt conduct” – but consider for a moment the counterfactual: What message would have been sent if she had been cleared?

Instead of being up another step on the ladder towards better government, to expecting higher standards of our politicians, anything less than the ICAC’s verdict would have set back the cause of ridding Australian politics of deeply embedded “they all do it” corruption.

Surprising allies in the Liberal Party, such as Matt Kean, made much of the fact that ICAC had not pressed criminal charges against Berejiklian, and thus implied that she had done nothing wrong. But that is far from the full truth. Using its strong investigative powers, ICAC required witnesses to attend and give evidence, then based its damning report on its assessment of the information it gathered. Its major function is to uncover and report publicly on corruption by elected members or public officials. It is not a court and cannot lay charges as part of its role. It is up to prosecutors to identify whether any of the reported behaviour might amount to criminal action, and to press charges where appropriate.

Pascoe points out that corruption in NSW has been a problem since the days of the Rum Rebellion. Eventually, this resulted in the establishment of a body to investigate and report on alleged corrupt behaviour: We have steadily moved on as a society to now expect our politicians will not use the Treasury, our money, for their own political ends, to do favours for mates and to repay debts. That process has elevated what is “acceptable” from the negative of “stuff that’s not illegal” to the positive of “acting ethically for the benefit of the community”.

Gladys Berejiklian didn’t understand that progression. She was caught on the wrong side of the “pork barrel” euphemism. Never mind the ICAC’s exhaustive investigation and consideration of the Glad & Daz Show, Ms Berejiklian was condemned by her own words when forced to fess up to the earlier scandal of a $250 million slush fund for councils in Liberal electorates ahead of the 2019 election.

Before the smoking gun was found – copies of shredded documents – the Berejiklian government was all “nothing to see here and certainly nothing that I saw”. But when a search of the Premier’s IT system found the briefing notes for Ms Berejiklian, it got worse. The Premier effectively said: ‘Oh well, it’s not illegal so too bad, you can all get stuffed.’ No, not illegal – but unethical.

Federal Opposition Leader Peter Dutton ignored the evidence and the ICAC findings, showing that he also failed to understand community expectations. Channel Nine reported Dutton’s comments from its Today show: Former NSW premier Gladys Berejiklian "is a wonderful person" and "should hold her head high" despite the damning findings handed down in yesterday's ICAC report, federal Opposition Leader Peter Dutton says. Dutton was adamant Berejiklian was "not a corrupt person", claiming she had already paid "a big price" for her actions. "The Gladys I know is somebody who is absolutely a wonderful person," he said.

Michael Pascoe analysed why Dutton was “forced” into this uncomfortable position of defending the person who the Sydney Morning Herald headlined as A Corrupt Liar: Peter Dutton and the rest in the Coalition’s leadership team were either active participants in or happily waved through an unprecedented level of taxpayers’ money for their political ends. Mr Dutton’s problem is that if he admits Ms Berejiklian failed to meet ethical standards, he and nearly all his federal colleagues also failed.

West Islanders expect that “serious corrupt conduct” in government should be rooted out and eliminated. When will the federal coalition understand and act on this?