Gladys Berejiklian’s lawyers argue relationships do not always equate to corruption
Ministers will always have personal attachments and these relationships do not automatically equate to corruption, lawyers for ex-NSW premier Gladys Berejiklian have argued.
Assuming these types of relationships meant impropriety was a “black, depressing and utterly unrealistic view of human life”, a court has heard as Berejiklian tries to overturn corruption findings made against her.
In June, the NSW Independent Commission Against Corruption found the former premier breached public trust by refusing to report her covert liaison with disgraced Liberal MP Daryl Maguire.
Today, Berejiklian’s barrister Bret Walker SC gave submissions to the NSW Court of Appeal seeking a judicial review of these findings.
He argued politicians were human and had personal attachments to family, friends and others.
ICAC found one scenario constituting “serious corrupt conduct” included Berejiklian sitting on a cabinet committee considering multimillion-dollar funding arrangements pushed by Maguire to benefit his Wagga Wagga electorate.
