ICAC's Operation Keppel investigation into ex-Wagga MP Daryl Maguire, Gladys Berejikian to land next week

The NSW Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) has confirmed the report into Operation Keppel, which began investigating Mr Maguire after a separate ICAC inquiry heard his intercepted phone calls, will be presented to presiding officers at Parliament next week.

Operation Keppel's scope expanded to include the then-premier Gladys Berejiklian when it emerged during hearings she and Mr Maguire had been engaged in a secret "close personal relationship" for several years.

The investigation examined whether Mr Maguire had allegedly used his position in the parliament to gain a financial benefit.

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The outcome of the operation has been long-awaited and the report delayed several times. It remains unclear if the report will be made public immediately after it is delivered on June 29.

"If the Presiding Officers make the report public, it will be made available for download from the ICAC website," a statement from ICAC outlined on Wednesday.

Mr Maguire is currently before the court after being charged in November with criminal conspiracy over an alleged visa fraud while a sitting MP.

In 2018, an ICAC inquiry into allegations of corruption at a Sydney council was played a series of intercepted phone calls in which Mr Maguire was heard allegedly soliciting kickbacks on potential property deals.

The scandal resulted in Mr Maguire resigning from the Liberal Party before he eventually left parliament altogether, triggering a byelection in the seat he had held since 1999.

After the 2018 revelations, ICAC launched its dedicated investigation - Operation Keppel - into allegations that Mr Maguire breached public trust while an MP.

It was during public hearings in 2020 the exposure of his affair with Ms Berejiklian rocked the state, with the then-premier called before the next round of hearings as the inquiry expanded to examine whether her relationship with Mr Maguire constituted a conflict of interest when her government announced millions of dollars in grants to the electorate.

Ms Berejiklian resigned as premier and then from politics after being called to the inquiry rather than temporarily stepping aside, citing the state needing certainty about who was leading it through the challenging COVID era. She has denied any wrongdoing.

"History will demonstrate that I have always executed my duties with the highest degree of integrity for the benefit of the people of NSW, who I have had the privilege to serve," Ms Berejiklian said at the time.

A report from the ICAC had been widely anticipated to be released at the end of October 2022 following the extension of the tenure of Ruth McColl SC, the anti-corruption commissioner overseeing the inquiry, to the end of that month.

Instead, it was announced days out from the month's end that Ms McColl would stay on indefinitely to finish the job.

Further expectations it would be released before the 2023 NSW state election were dashed earlier this year, with the sheer size of the inquiry a contributor to its delay.

ICAC said in January the report concerned complex matters of law and fact, two public inquiries which proceeded over 30 days, more than 2,800 pages of transcript, 516 exhibits comprising approximately 10,600 pages and 957 pages of submissions.

A deadline extension for some parties to provide written submissions in response to counsel assisting the ICAC, Scott Robertson, had also been granted in March last year.

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