NSW Parliament's upper house has demanded documents relating to former Wagga MP Daryl Maguire and a $5.5 million grant to build the city's new function centre.
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Greens MLC David Shoebridge last week moved a motion that a variety of government departments provide any documents on the 2017 grant to build 'The Range' centre at the Australian Clay Target Association's National Grounds in Wagga.
"The circumstance in which the Australian Clay Target Association, which had the good fortune of being located in Wagga, received some $5.5 million of public money out of a fund that was oversighted by the Premier...is one that I believe the public has a right to know," Mr Shoebridge told Parliament.
Mike Baird was NSW premier in late 2016 when money from Restart NSW grant was reserved to pay for the centre and current Premier Gladys Berejiklian was serving as Treasurer at the time.
Ms Berejiklian was Premier when the funding was given its final approval in August 2017 and she has previously denied allegations that she had a conflict of interest due to being in a close personal relationship with Mr Maguire.
"All those arrangements went through the normal processes. I don't intervene in those processes," Ms Berejiklian said last year.
"The integrity body had all that information and they have stated that I am not an affected witness; I was there to support their inquiries and that remains the case.
"As Treasurer, you oversee all funds that are going through but that was up to the relevant minister and I was not the relevant minister."
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Mr Shoebridge's motion sought access to an "any supporting documentation, business cases, cost benefit analysis, building tenders and contracts for building works associated with the funding" along with any correspondence involving Mr Maguire.
The Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) has previously looked into Mr Maguire's personal business connections to The Range, including a deal to secure a commission for importing furniture for the centre from China.
The Clay Target Association's then chief executive Tony Turner told ICAC that an official from the NSW government Office of Sport told him to increase his grant application from $4.8 million to $5.5 million because a minister "wants it bigger".
No Coalition MLCs spoke against Mr Shoebridge's motion to demand the documents during a debate in Parliament on Wednesday last week and it was moved without a formal vote count.
The Office of Sport, Regional NSW, Infrastructure NSW, Treasury, the Department of Premier and Cabinet, the Treasurer, the Premier, the Deputy Premier, the Minister for Jobs, Investment, Tourism and Western Sydney were given 21 days to respond to the demand.
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