NSW deputy Liberal leader Stuart Ayres said Wagga's clay target function centre project "had a lot of merit" during an anti-corruption hearing on Friday.
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The Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) is investigating allegations against former Premier Gladys Berejiklian that she had a conflict of interest via the million of dollars in grants allocated to Wagga during her secret relationship with then Wagga MP Daryl Maguire.
Mr Ayres was minister for sport when the Australian Clay Target Association (ACTA) was awarded $5.5 million to build The Range function centre in Wagga, a grant that is now being investigated by ICAC.
"I thought the project had a lot of merit. They had a World Championship event coming up in 2018 ... it was located in a regional location," Mr Ayres told ICAC.
"For a shooting facility, they were in a good location. They were in an industrial estate area.
"From memory, they had a good relationship with their neighbour, which was good for both noise and safety."
Previous public servant witnesses at ICAC have described the Wagga clay target proposal as something that "did not stack up" or was "suss".
Mr Ayres said he could not recall any bureaucrats raising concerns about the quality or robustness of the proposal.
Mr Ayres followed multiple public servants and former premier Mike Baird in telling ICAC that Ms Berejiklian should have declared an interest in the Wagga grant.
"I would have been concerned that a conflict may have needed to be managed and the ministerial code does provide ways of doing that," Mr Ayres said.
"Upon reflection, I can't see where Gladys Berejiklian or Daryl Maguire, subsequently knowing that they were in a relationship, derived any private benefit from this project".
"I don't think there was a conflict around the decision; I do think it would be a prudent course of action to declare her relationship."
Ms Berejiklian has denied any wrongdoing and she is due to appear at ICAC on Thursday and Friday next week.
Counsel assisting ICAC Scott Robertson asked Mr Ayres why the NSW government spent $40,000 on a business case for the Wagga function centre proposal when the ACTA already had $1.2 million to contribute.
Mr Ayres said "my recollection of this business case was that the Office of Sport was going to conduct the business case or at least commission the business case".
ICAC has published a letter from Mr Ayres to Mr Maguire in August 2016 stating "I am pleased to confirm that I have approved funding of $40,000 to ACTA to assist in the preparation of a business case".
In other news
Mr Ayres said he did not support the Wagga clay target centre in order to "counteract the Shooters Party in NSW" after it won the Orange byelection against the National Party in November 2016.
"I didn't think about them much," Mr Ayres said.
Mr Ayres said "I don't recall" when asked why an Office of Sport director was instructed to prepare, within just a single day, a draft submission on Wagga clay target centre to the powerful Expenditure Review Committee of Cabinet.
ICAC has previously released an advice memo on the Wagga grant proposal, that was prepared for then premier Mike Baird, which claimed Mr Maguire, Ms Berejiklian and Mr Ayres had a "sweetheart deal" over the clay target function centre.
Mr Ayres said that was a "fantasy" and said he had "normal interactions" with Ms Berejiklian for the grant.
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