A staff member who worked with former NSW Riverina MP Daryl Maguire has told a corruption inquiry that his parliamentary office "was running a business on the side".
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The commission has also heard testimony from two former staff members from the Government Whip's office that Chinese delegates were left "upset" after then-Premier Barry O'Farrell did not meet them at a lunch event hosted by Mr Maguire.
Counsel assisting ICAC Scott Robertson asked Government Whip secretary Rebecca Cartwright whether Mr Maguire was using his parliamentary office to "run a business on the side".
"He certainly had lots of contacts that he dealt with ... it looks like he was running a business on the side but I didn't see that at the time," she replied.
Ms Cartwright was asked about an email from Wagga Wagga MP Mr Maguire about looking for someone to help "import my wine to Shenyang" in China.
Mr Robertson said there were references to containers of wine and powdered milk to go to China.
"It was about Mr Maguire making a profit for himself or related entities?" Mr Robertson asked.
Ms Cartwright replied "yes".
Mr Robertson asked if it was "strange" that she was asked to handle emails about Mr Maguire's private business concerning "self-serve car washes in China" while working for the government.
"I don't recall sending that email" she said.
Ms Cartwright told Mr Maguire's solicitor that "I got paid by [G8way director] Phil Elliott, I didn't get paid by Mr Maguire" and that some of her activities for G8way took place in her own time.
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Ms Cartwright gave similar testimony to another staffer, Nicole Hatton, in that an event for Chinese officials and businesspeople ended with the delegation leaving early.
Mr O'Farrell attended the signing of a memorandum of understanding at Parliament House between Wagga City Council and the Wuai Group in November 2012 for a $400 million international trade centre in Wagga.
The project, proposed for a site on the corner of Kooringal Road and Copland Street, never came to fruition.
Ms Cartwright said the delegation left a post-event lunch because "the premier wasn't there" and "I believe they went on a cruise around the harbour".