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Mr Maguire,the then-Member for Wagga Wagga,made an unexpected appearance during a public hearing of the inquiry in 2018,when phone taps showed him attempting to broker property deals on behalf of a Chinese developer.
The revelations led to a separate corruption inquiry into Mr Maguire’s conduct as an MP last year,which uncovered explosive evidence of his secret relationship with Premier Gladys Berejiklian. That inquiry remains ongoing.
The phone taps played at the 2018 Operation Dasha inquiry featured Mr Maguire speaking to Mr Hawatt about potential commissions that he could earn from property deals with the Chinese property development company Country Garden.
The ICAC found Mr Maguire gave false or misleading evidence by “denying that he approached Mr Hawatt with a view of making money out of a business in 2016”,and “denying that he approached Mr Hawatt on behalf of Country Garden Australia because potentially he may gain a benefit”.
In its report released on Monday afternoon,the commission also found the former Canterbury City council’s general manager,Jim Montague,engaged in serious corrupt conduct.
The commission said he improperly allowed himself to be influenced by councillors to appoint Mr Stavis to the role of director,despite the fact he was “not the most meritorious candidate”.
“Corrupt planning decisions at the council were a consequence of both underlying integrity issues and poor controls,and a NSW planning system that lacks effective anti-corruption safeguards,” the report said.
The ICAC described a poor “tone at the top”,leading to the pursuit of developer interests by some senior staff and councillors,and the failure of the relevant NSW government department to properly oversee local environmental plans.
The commission made 23 corruption prevention recommendations,including that the NSW Department of Planning,Industry and Environment introduce measures to enhance transparency around the lobbying of councillors.
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The serious corrupt conduct findings against Mr Hawatt and Mr Azzi,a Labor councillor,included applying the improper pressure on Mr Montague to appoint Mr Stavis to the director city planning position.
In a statement on Monday afternoon NSW Labor Leader Jodi McKay said Mr Azzi would be expelled from the ALP.
NSW Greens anti-corruption spokesman Jamie Parker said the report exposed an unprecedented situation where “a close personal contact of a sitting Premier is potentially facing jail time for lying to the corruption watchdog”.
“This raises serious questions for the Premier’s future,the integrity of her government and the oversight of planning in NSW,” he said.
He said the report’s recommendations exposed weaknesses in planning law that were “exploited” by pro-development councillors.
“These recommendations are long overdue first steps to tackle corruption in the NSW planning system,” he said.
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