Gladys Berejiklian's political rivals plot to refer the NSW premier to ICAC after her 'close personal relationship' with a former Liberal MP was revealed
Gladys Berejiklian's political rivals are reportedly plotting to refer the NSW premier to ICAC after her 'close personal relationship' with disgraced MP Daryl Maguire was revealed.
Ms Berejiklian's secret ex-boyfriend, who was the Liberal Party's Member for Wagga Wagga, made a stunning series of admissions to the state's corruption investigator last month about a 'cash-for-visa' scam for Chinese nationals, failing to disclose his business interests and 'monetising' his office to benefit himself and associates.
One Nation's Mark Latham - who revealed Mr Maguire had a key to the premier's north shore home - reportedly wants the Independent Commission Against Corruption to look at whether her non-disclosure of the romantic relationship breached the ministerial code of conduct.
Upper House MPs are reportedly plotting to refer NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian to the state's corruption investigator ICAC over her secret lover
Ms Berejiklian's secret ex-boyfriend was the Liberal Party's Member for Wagga Wagga
'I'll be supporting a motion to refer the Premier to ICAC for investigation in her own right,' he told the Daily Telegraph on Saturday.
Mr Latham told Daily Mail Australia that Ms Berejiklian should step down.
'I said I would support any such motion as there are a dozen reasons why Berejiklian should resign,' he said on Saturday night.
The corruption investigator needs a referral from both houses of parliament before it is forced to open a matter.
It is reported that Labor and the Greens will also support the motion as soon as next Tuesday when NSW Parliament resumes.
The Lower House is not expected to support any such motion, so it will be up to the ICAC whether it voluntarily wants to probe the issue.
One Nation's Mark Latham has said he will support the motion to refer the NSW Premier to ICAC for investigation. The motion may pass the NSW Upper House but is not likely to pass the Lower House, so the ICAC will not be forced to open a case
The Ministerial Code of Conduct states that a conflict of interest, which must be disclosed, applies to a minister's family 'or anyone else in an intimate personal relationship', giving rise to calls for her to resign.
Ms Berejiklian has denied any wrongdoing, and has said she always believed Mr Maguire had disclosed his interests.
The NSW premier endured a nightmare two weeks as details of her intimate relationship were made public last month at Independent Commission Against Corruption hearings.
However the electorate has shown support for Ms Berejiklian with an Ipsos poll finding 63 per cent of respondents asked think the NSW premier should keep her job, with support higher among women (70 per cent) and people aged over 40 (70 per cent).
The issue had almost died down but now a group of Upper House MPs including Mr Latham are reportedly plotting to attempt to refer Ms Berejiklian for investigation.
The New South Wales premier secretly dated disgraced former MP 'Dodgy' Daryl Maguire (pictured left) from 2015 until August this year, it was previously revealed