Yahoo Finance Ex-NSW MP stood to earn $690,000 for helping to 'grease the wheels' in land sale, Icac hears
The former New South Wales Liberal MP Daryl Maguire would have earned more than $690,000 for helping to “grease the wheels” in a lucrative sale of land near the Western Sydney airport, a corruption inquiry has heard.
Telephone intercepts also reveal that Maguire encouraged a property investor, William Luong, to attend a Liberal fundraiser featuring the premier, Gladys Berejiklian, despite Luong’s concerns that he was classified as a property developer and was not allowed to attend.
“[Maguire said] ‘Oh don’t worry about it’ – I think the invitation was for raising funds, you’ve got to pay – and I said ‘look I can’t pay this sort of thing’,” Luong told the NSW Independent Commission Against Corruption (Icac) on Thursday.
Icac is currently exploring a proposed major land sale worth $330m involving racing heir Louise Raedler Waterhouse and a large plot near the proposed Western Sydney airport, known as SmartWest.
Luong stood to make more than $6m for his work in assisting Waterhouse with the sale, the inquiry heard.
Icac heard that in 2017, while in parliament, Maguire was helping to “grease the wheels” to make the land deal happen. That work included helping with road and zoning issues and introducing Waterhouse and Luong, who had been working with Chinese developer Country Gardens to identify opportunities in the area.
“It’s nice to try and help people. I like to help people,” Maguire said in a recorded phone call with Luong. “And I’ve got some good friends, I’m very lucky.”
For his services, Maguire was entitled to a 10% fee. That equated to roughly $690,000. But Luong said Maguire likely would have been paid more, given his services. “It really depends on the day on what I was instructed to do,” Luong said.
The counsel assisting the inquiry, Scott Robertson, asked: “Are you saying that if Ms Waterhouse had said ‘look give him a little bit more’, you would have agreed with that request? But at the very least, Mr Maguire gets $690,000 if the $330m deal comes off, is that right?”
Luong agreed. It was suggested to Luong that Maguire’s fee could have amounted to as much as $1m. He agreed that was possible, depending on whether a good sale price could be achieved.
The sale did not eventuate.
The commission heard a series of wiretaps of conversations between Luong and Maguire from September 2017.
In one of the recorded conversations, the pair discussed an upcoming fundraising event featuring the NSW premier. The fundraiser was held in the president’s dining room in parliament for Maguire.
Luong said he had expressed concern about his attendance.
“You probably have intercepted one of the calls, I think I have told [Maguire] that I may classify as a developer, or to do with the developments, I’m not coming, I cannot pay the fees.
“Then he said ‘don’t worry, just come’. So I came. I think that was that dinner.”
Luong said he met Berejiklian and was able to share part of the meal next to her. He said he only had a general discussion with the premier and did not raise business matters.
The inquiry also heard that Maguire, once it became apparent that he was under investigation by Icac, directed Luong to delete WeChat messages they had exchanged.
Luong’s evidence prompted Robertson to quickly seek orders compelling Luong to hand over his phone for examination.
Maguire, the former member for Wagga Wagga, resigned from the NSW parliament in 2018 after a separate Icac inquiry heard he sought payment to help broker deals for some property developers.
Icac heard that the $330m value put on the SmartWest plot was based on the value of nearby land sold by Ron Medich, who was convicted of murder in 2018.
The inquiry will resume on Friday.
