- 1.5.3.3. determining to make a funding reservation of $20 million in relation to RCM Stage 2
- 1.5.3.4. approving the letter arranging for that funding reservation to be made without disclosing her close personal relationship with Mr Maguire, when she was in a position of a conflict of interest between her public duty and her private interest in maintaining or advancing her close personal relationship with Mr Maguire, which could objectively have the potential to influence the performance of her public duty
- 1.5.4. in 2018, in connection with funding promised and awarded to RCM Stage 2 engaging in conduct constituting or involving the partial exercise of her official functions influenced by the existence of her close personal relationship with Mr Maguire, or by a desire on her part to maintain or advance that relationship (chapter 12)
- 1.5.5. refusing to discharge her duty under s 11 of the ICAC Act to notify the Commission of her suspicion that Mr Maguire had engaged in activities which concerned, or might have concerned, corrupt conduct (chapter 13).
14 The applicant asks this Court to quash these "serious corrupt conduct" findings or, in the alternative, to make a declaration that the Commission's determination that she had engaged in "serious corrupt conduct" was made "without or in excess of jurisdiction, and is a nullity". Further, or again in the alternative, the applicant seeks a declaration that on the facts as found the Commission's determination that she had engaged in any "serious corrupt conduct" was wrong in law.
The Commission and the ICAC Act
15 ICAC was constituted by the Independent Commission Against Corruption Act 1988 (NSW) (the Act). The principal objects of that Act include "to promote the integrity and accountability of public administration" by the creation of an "independent and accountable body to investigate, expose and prevent corruption involving or affecting public authorities and public officials" (s 2A). The principal functions of the Commission include investigating complaints as to corrupt conduct and any matter referred to the Commission by both Houses of Parliament, and communicating to appropriate authorities the results of its investigations (s 13(1)). They also include specific powers to make findings and form opinions as to whether particular persons have engaged in "corrupt conduct" (s 13(3)(a)). The powers conferred on the Commission to enable it to perform these functions include to conduct investigations, and, where necessary, to conduct compulsory examinations and public inquiries (ss 20, 30, 31).
16 The central provisions of the Act and other legislation relevant to the Commission's findings of "serious corrupt conduct" are set out below.
ICAC Act
17 For the purposes of the Act "corrupt conduct is any conduct which falls within the description of corrupt conduct in section 8, but which is not excluded by section 9" (s 7(1)).
18 Section 8 relevantly provides:
8 General nature of corrupt conduct
