EXCLUSIVE
Gladys Berejiklian‘s one-time secret boyfriend, disgraced politician Daryl Maguire, has started a new life as a hotelier and cafe owner in a tiny Outback town, where he goes by the surprise name of ‘Tommy’.
Daily Mail Australia can reveal the corrupt former NSW Liberal MP, who is currently on bail and fighting criminal charges in the Local and District Courts, has snapped up four properties in the outback outpost of Ivanhoe, in the state’s remote central west.
The 65-year-old father-of-two now runs an extensive accommodation business in the remote township, which is home to just 162 people, as well as a popular French-themed eatery in the main street.
He splits his time between the town and his main residence in Wagga Wagga, where he was the local MP for almost two decades before being forced to resign in shame in August 2018, when an anti-corruption investigation found he had abused his position for personal financial gain.
Maguire’s initial investment in Ivanhoe, a homestead at 30 Livingstone St that he bought for $8000 in October 2016, became a line of inquiry during an investigation into his dealings by the state’s powerful Independent Commission Against Corruption.
The ICAC probe discovered he had lobbied his long-time secret lover, then-Treasurer Berejiklian, to fast-track the upgrade of the Cobb Highway that runs through Ivanhoe little more than a month after making the purchase – even though the town was 100km from his Wagga electorate.
Although the project did receive significant funding, Ms Berejiklian outright denied it was a result of her boyfriend’s petition and said the upgrade had long been highlighted as a priority by the state’s roads minister.
The anti-corruption watchdog later found both Maguire and Ms Berejiklian, who resigned as premier in September 2021 following revelations she was being investigated for breaching the ministerial code of conduct, had engaged in serious corrupt conduct during their time in public office.
Former NSW premier Gladys Berejiklian enjoyed a secret, years-long romance with one-time Liberal MP Daryl Maguire before they were both found to have been corrupt by ICAC
Maguire has now started a new business empire in the tiny Outback outpost of Ivanhoe, where he has restored his late grandmother’s homestead as a holiday rental after buying it for $8000
The disgraced politician has also opened a French-themed cafe, La Bouche, in the town
The ICAC recommended charges be laid against Maguire but not Ms Berejiklian.
Following his initial Ivanhoe investment, Maguire bought two neighbouring blocks, a vacant lot at 32 Livingstone St for $750 in 2017, and a dilapidated cottage that backs onto his properties at 31 Franklin St for $5,000 in July 2021.
He has since renovated the homestead and cottage, and planted an orchard on the site, and now rents out five separate sections of the property for between $135 and $350 a night – with a sixth listing ‘coming soon’ for an additional $175 a night.
Known collectively as ‘Mrs Kendells Accommodation’, Maguire claimed the main homestead was built by his late grandparents about 70 years ago and that he spent six months restoring it before starting to let it out just as local tourism in the state’s Outback began to boom during the coronavirus pandemic.
‘Constructed by Roy and Dorothy around 1947, the homestead originally comprised of a cosy two rooms with the kitchen and dining to the rear,’ Maguire said on the accommodation’s website.
‘Roy passes in 1960 and Dorothy 12 years later. They rest together at the Ivanhoe cemetery.
‘The house changed owners several times and fell into disrepair and became uninhabitable.
‘Reacquired by Dorothy’s grandchildren it sat for many years until July 2020 when the restoration began and completed in December 2020.’
The main homestead was originally built by Maguire’s grandparents, Roy and Dorothy Kendell, in about 1947 and went through a series of owners after their deaths before he bought it
Maguire is on bail and fighting criminal charges in the Local and District Courts following recommendations by the state’s anti-corruption watchdog
Maguire asked his then secret girlfriend and NSW Treasurer Gladys Berejiklian to fast-track the upgrade of the highway through Ivanhoe little more than a month after buying the homestead – but she denies helping him
Maguire currently offers five different lodgement options in Ivanhoe and is currently working on a sixth, The Stables (pictured) which is ‘coming soon’
Maguire claimed the neighbouring cottage belonged to his late mother, Mrs Kendell’s daughter Margaret, and that he had spent months renovating the ‘derelict, vandalised small cottage…partly eaten by white ants’ before renting it out last year.
However, he appeared to try to distance himself – and his notorious public profile – from the project by claiming ‘Margaret’s Cottage’ had been lovingly restored ‘by her children’, Tommy and Susan.
‘Mrs Kendell had six children- Margaret Ellen the eldest born in 1933, elder sibling to Joe, Beryl, Dick, Dorothy, and Allan,’ Maguire stated on the lodgement’s website.
‘The cottages began their life as a three-room dwelling consisting of a bedroom, kitchen and laundry washhouse, accessible by walking outside and around to the back door.
‘It was very primitive, with a wood stove in the kitchen for cooking and heating, a woodchip heater in the bathroom for washing.
‘When Margaret and her husband Cyril greeted their first born, Tommy, in 1959 a small verandah to the north of the cottage was enclosed to which served as a nursery, bedroom.
‘Margaret and Cyril and their youngster lived in the cottage welcoming another baby, Susan, in 1964 adding to the clan.
‘It was around this time that Margaret became unwell again – having suffered polio as a child it returned with a vengeance as was very often the case in those times.
A night at Maguire’s ‘Margaret’s Garden Cottage’ will set back visitors $175 a night
Maguire has been steadily adding to his accomodation empire by listing ‘Mrs Kendells Bungalow’ for $135 a night
The seperate ‘Mrs Kendells Cottage’ is also available for $135 a night
’After a three-year battle Margaret passed away in 1967 at the young age of 33.
‘Cyril lived and worked on raising his two children with the assistance of his mother-in-law Mrs Kendell until she passed away in 1973 and Cyril 10 years after in 1983, aged just 52.
‘Both Mrs Kendell (and) her husband Roy rest beside Margaret and Cyril who were buried together as was their request.’
Maguire was working on his latest Ivanhoe renovation rescue, a cottage he bought at 41 Columbus St in August for $9000, when contacted by Daily Mail Australia on Sunday.
He confirmed he was one of Margaret’s two children as mentioned on the website and that he owned and operated the accommodation rentals.
Asked why he had referred to himself as ‘Tommy’ in the online listing, he insisted he was widely known by that name around the Outback town.
‘I’ve always been called Tommy in Ivanhoe,’ he said.
‘Look, I’ve got to get back to work, I’m not talking to you anymore, you’re lucky I even answered your call.’
Tommy is not the only moniker the former MP goes by these days.
The anti-corruption watchdog found both Ms Berejiklian and her one-time boyfriend Daryl Maguire (pictured together) had acted corruptly while in public office but only recommended charges be laid against Maguire
Maguire’s latest renovation rescue is the blue cottage next to his cafe, with the former politician snapping up the property in the town’s main street for $9000 in August
His voicemail asks callers to leave a message for ‘Daz’, while a Google review for ‘Mrs Kendells Accommodation’ last month thanked ‘Daz and the team’ for their ‘brilliant stay’.
One recent visitor told Daily Mail Australia they were shown around the homestead by a man known simply as ‘Daz’.
Maguire’s accommodation listings, which would net him almost $1200 a night if they were all booked out, have attracted almost universal five-star reviews online.’
It’s understood the lodgements have hosted tourists from around the country and the globe.
Cashing in on the Outback tourist boom, Maguire has also opened a popular French-themed cafe, La Bouche, in the heart of the tiny town, opposite Ivanhoe’s memorial gardens, and between its historic community hall and popular RSL drinking hole.
Although Maguire has expanded his commercial empire in Ivanhoe, it is understood he continues to operate his successful horse agistment business in North Wagga Wagga and that he splits his time between the two operations.
The disgraced former politician last month pleaded not guilty in the Local Court to giving false or misleading evidence during an ICAC investigation into the former Canterbury City Council in 2018.
During the inquiry, he denied having any business dealings with former councillor Michael Hawatt or asking to receive a financial benefit for brokering a multimillion-dollar deal with a Chinese developer in Sydney.
However, he was forced to admit he had requested a cut of the profits after being played covertly recorded phone conversions during the hearings and was charged with lying to the ICAC last year.
His lawyer, Jim Harrowell, last month told Sydney’s Downing Centre Local Court that Maguire would fight the charge when it is heard in February.
Maguire’s cafe, La Bouche, boasts two vending machines and has become a local meeting spot
The former politician’s most expensive listing, ‘Margaret’s Garden Executive Cottage’, is actually his childhood home and goes for $350 a night
If convicted, he faces a maximum penalty of five year’s imprisonment.
Maguire has also pleaded not guilty to a separate charge of falsifying documents between January 2013 and August 2015 while he was in office.
Police allege the then-MP ran a cash-for-visas scheme with an immigration agent that involved payments worth tens of thousands of dollars.
He is expected to fight that charge during a trial in the NSW District Court next September.
