Corruption inquiry in Australia uncovers China links to state lawmaker

SYDNEY (Reuters) -The former premier of Australia's most populous state engaged in corrupt conduct involving another lawmaker with whom she was in a secret romantic relationship, a years-long corruption inquiry that examined business dealings with China said on Thursday.

The New South Wales Independent Commission into Corruption (ICAC) said in a report that Gladys Berejiklian had failed to notify the commission of her concerns that Daryl Maguire, a member of the state assembly with whom she was in a relationship during her term of office, may have engaged in corrupt conduct, and this undermined the ministerial code.

As the premier of New South Wales in 2020 Berejiklian, once a star of the Liberal party and widely respected for her leadership during the COVID-19 pandemic, told the corruption inquiry she had been in a secret "close personal relationship" with Maguire, who was under investigation for monetising his position through business dealings with China.

A year later she resigned when the watchdog said it was investigating whether she was involved in conduct that "constituted or involved a breach of public trust".

Berejiklian said the report was being examined by her lawyers. "At all times I have worked my hardest in the public interest," she said in a statement.

The inquiry said Maguire sought to use his government office to "create a network between China and Australia and to make a commission in multiple ways".

The Australian arm of China's largest property developer became his client after an introduction by the founder of the Australian Council for the Promotion of the Peaceful Reunification of China at one of its meetings. Australia declared the council a Chinese-government linked entity in February.

Maguire told the inquiry he had received envelopes containing thousands of dollars in cash at his parliament office as part of a scheme for Chinese nationals to fraudulently acquire visas.

The commission found Maguire engaged in "serious corrupt conduct" between 2012 and 2018 for the migration scheme and other misconduct.

It said he misused his role as chairman of the New South Wales Parliament's Asia Pacific Friendship Group to advance the commercial interests of a Chinese business association in South Pacific nations.

He was also found to have monetised his position as a lawmaker to benefit a company, G8way, which sought to sell access to "high levels of government" in Australia. G8way's "man in Beijing" was a former vice consul in Sydney, it said.

Maguire also misused his office by receiving a fee to introduce the party secretary of China's Liaoning province to then New South Wales premier Barry O'Farrell at parliament in 2012, it said.

Maguire already faces a criminal charge for his role in the visa scheme, for which he has not entered a plea in court.

His lawyer said he was still reading the report, which is more than 600 pages long. He previously said the commission was "not authorised" to make findings that a criminal offence had been committed.

The commission said it would seek advice from the Director of Public Prosecutions on whether further prosecutions should be commenced into Maguire.

(Reporting by Kirsty Needham; Editing by Stephen Coates)