Gladys and her dodgy lover: Read and listen to the extraordinary phone taps revealing the secret love affair between the premier and a disgraced MP that could see Australia's most popular politician resign
If the citizens of New South Wales thought they knew anything about Gladys Berejiklian it was that the premier was always prim, proper and intensely private.
The unmarried 50-year-old appeared to have no personal life outside her work and family commitments, or went to great lengths to keep it well hidden.
That all changed on Monday morning when tapped phone calls between her and disgraced former MP Daryl Maguire - her secret lover - were played at a corruption inquiry.
It was extraordinary enough that the premier's private conversations with a dodgy colleague were recorded but the intimate nature of those chats belied her demure public image.
The calls feature colourful language including swear words and offensive phrases coming from Mr Maquire's mouth which seem not to offend Ms Berejikilian's ears.
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Premier Gladys Berejiklian has admitted she shared a private relationship with disgraced former colleague Daryl Maguire while he was in office. Secretly recorded phone conversations the pair had have been played at the Independent Commission Against Corruption
While Mr Maguire makes comments such as 'they are sucking people's d***s' and 'they can get f**ked' in the pair's phone conversations, the onetime Girl Guide often simply replies to his remarks with 'Mmm'. The pair is pictured together
While Mr Maguire makes comments such as 'they are sucking people's d***s' and 'they can get f**ked', the onetime Girl Guide often simply replies to his remarks with 'Mmm'.
Mr Maguire calls Ms Berejiklian 'babe' in a secretly-recorded phone conversation and she says to him in another: 'You will always be my numero uno.'
Asked at the inquiry what she meant by 'numero uno', Ms Berejiklian said: 'I think what I would have meant there is that in my personal life I placed importance on how I felt about him.'
In other private correspondence the two called each other 'hawkiss', an Armenian term of endearment.
One call between Ms Berejiklian and Mr Maguire played to the Independent Commission Against Corruption took place before a trip he planned making to China.
Mr Maguire, then the Liberal member for Wagga Wagga, was concerned about looming job losses at a company which was based outside his electorate.
Mr Maguire calls Ms Berejiklian 'babe' and she says to him: 'You will always be my numero uno.' Asked at the inquiry what she meant by 'numero uno', Ms Berejiklian said: 'I think what I would have meant there is that in my personal life I placed importance on how I felt about him'
Ms Berejiklian said she had a 'personal attachment' to Mr Maguire and their relationship - which began in 2015 - had been kept under wraps as she was a 'very private person'. Mr Maguire is pictured outside ICAC on July 13, 2018
Ms Berejiklian can be heard telling Mr Maguire her then chief-of-staff Sarah Cruickshank had concerns about his travel.
'All right babe, what do you think?' Mr Maguire says.
'I just got home, did Sarah ring you from my office?' Ms Berejiklian replies.
'No why?' he says.
Ms Berejiklian: 'She sent me a text, when she has to ring a member of parliament she lets me know.'
'They seem to think it's in your electorate. I didn't say anything, It's none of my business, I'm just letting you know.'
Mr Maguire goes on to explain why he wants to go to China.
'I will ... these bureaucrats don't care... they're shaking hands, they are sucking people's d***s and they are turning up to everything and they do nothing,' he says.
Mr Maguire had proposed going on a trade delegation to China where he would discuss a dairy in southern NSW but did not make the trip after a direction from Ms Cruickshank.
One phone call between the pair was supposedly so 'offensive' that a live stream of the hearing was paused when it was played for the first time.
One phone call was played in a private ICAC session after counsel assisting Scott Robertson said it raised 'questions as to the privacy of the two people involved in the conversation...' Ms Berijiklian is pictured with Mr Maguire and former premier Barry O'Farrell
Another phone call was played in a private session after counsel assisting Scott Robertson said it raised 'questions as to the privacy of the two people involved in the conversation... that's the safest course.'
Ms Berejiklian said she had a 'personal attachment' to Mr Maguire and their relationship - which began in 2015 - had been kept under wraps as she was a 'very private person'.
'She won't survive this'
Radio host Ray Hadley: 'I don't think, for a whole range of reasons, that Gladys Berejkilian can survive this.'
'Given this relationship predated his divorce and separation, and given that she's now admitted had he retired from politics in 2017 she would have made public the relationship.
Greens MP David Shoebridge: 'It's hard to see how the Premier can survive a day in Parliament this week given the bombshells being dropped in ICAC about her relationship with the... Liberal MP Daryl Maguire.'
Sky News political editor Andrew Clennell: 'When they call a premier you know they've got something. I actually think I that there's a good chance Gladys Berejiklian will have to resign over this.'
In 2017 the pair spoke about their future shared plans, including making their relationship public if Mr Maguire resigned before the 2019 state election.
Ms Berejiklian admitted that over the course of their relationship Mr Maguire frequently spoke of his finances and was 'obsessed' with them.
In one phone call, Mr Maguire says: 'So I think what I'll do is, if they give me a cheque for my tax, I think it's better taken off my mortgage. I think what I'll do is I'll whack it into shares.'
Ms Berejiklian: 'You told me that before.'
Mr Maguire was forced to quit the Berejiklian government in 2018 after a separate ICAC inquiry heard evidence he sought payments to help broker deals for property developers.
Ms Berejiklian said on Monday she had a 'close personal relationship' with Mr Maguire and the pair continued to communicate until less than a month ago.
She also admitted Mr Maguire had told her about some of his business interests and she presumed the ex-Wagga Wagga MP had appropriately disclosed them.
Mr Maguire is accused of using his public office and parliamentary resources to improperly gain a benefit for himself or for G8way International, a company Mr Maguire allegedly 'effectively controlled'.
He last spoke to Ms Berejiklian on September 13 - less than a month ago - and she had ceased communication only after agreeing to attend the ICAC inquiry.
Ms Berejiklian denied distancing herself from specific details on Mr Maguire's affairs in an attempt at self-preservation.
'I would never, ever, ever turn a blind eye from any responsibility that I had to disclose any wrongdoing that I saw, or any activity that I thought was not in keeping with what a member of parliament should be doing,' Ms Berejiklian told the inquiry.
'I would suggest that I was either not interested or I thought what he was raising with me was fanciful. He was a big talker.
One message from 2014, before Ms Berejiklian was premier, appears to reveal Maguire telling Mr Berejiklian about how a motel had sold for $5.8 million, and how he was entitled to $5,000
'A lot of the time, I would have ignored a lot of what he said as fanciful and information that I didn't care to be involved in or interested in.'
The premier also said she did not take a personal interest in Mr Maguire's finances, despite their relationship, as she was an 'independent woman' with her own means.
Ms Berejiklian was dragged into the saga last week when the ICAC heard Mr Maguire gave racing heir Louise Waterhouse the premier's email address to help her lobby for rezoning changes that would benefit a parcel of land she held.
ICAC heard Mr Maguire had suggested the premier would be able to provide a 'tickle from up top', but Ms Waterhouse said Ms Berejiklian never responded.
In a call played to ICAC, Mr Maguire referred to property broker William Luong who was working with him to help Ms Waterhouse with the western Sydney land sale.
'William tells me we've done our deal,' Mr Maguire says.
Ms Berejiklian replies: 'I don't need to know about that bit.'
The inquiry continues before assistant commissioner Ruth McColl SC.