'Glass of red' was 'code': Daryl Maguire contradicts former minister's chief of staff

"He knew the purpose. I'm very clear on that... to come and have an informed discussion with Mr Alha and give him some advice," Mr Maguire said.

"The code was having a glass of red. That was kind of the code, the message [to] come down to the office."

Mr Vellar last week told the commission he felt ambushed by Mr Maguire one day after question time in November 2017, when he arrived in Mr Maguire's office to find Mr Alha armed with a development model and a glass of red wine.

"I remember sliding their glass of wine away from me and I left. I was pretty cranky ... I'd been asked up there on the basis of false pretenses," Mr Vellar said to the ICAC last week.

Mr Maguire on Wednesday said Mr Vellar's account of being ambushed was simply "not true."

Mr Maguire admitted several times that he used his position as an MP and parliamentary secretary to make money for himself and his associates.

The former parliamentary secretary told the inquiry he turned his office into the part-time headquarters for a private business network he silently directed called G8wayinternational Pty Ltd.

After more than three weeks of public hearings — which have included bombshell revelations that Mr Maguire was in a secret five-year relationship with Premier Gladys Berejiklian — the commission heard from the man himself about the cash, associates, and failed ventures he has been linked to in the inquiry so far.

Mr Maguire, who was also the chair of the Asia Pacific Friendship Group, said he knew he was wrong to use his position in activities for commercial purposes, including to explore business opportunities with associates in the South Pacific.

The commission heard of one trip he was planning to the region in February 2018, when he claimed he would set up meetings with the Prime Minsiter and Deputy Prime Minsiter of Papua New Guina.

"You would accept, wouldn't you, that you were taking steps with your [friendship group] hat on, with a view to making some money," counsel assisting Scott Robertson said, adding, that the motive was "pure profit."

"Yes," Mr Maguire replied.

A central vehicle of Mr Maguire's business dealings was G8wayinternational, which he ran with friend and associate Phil Elliott, with the assistance of other staffers from his parliamentary office.

G8wayinternational advertised experience and access to "high levels of government," which Mr Maguire eventually agreed was a reference to him.

Mr Maguire never declared any interest or income from the business, which he said was designed to "help exporters export [and] to help importers import". G8wayinternational was just one of the financial plans Mr Maguire hoped would see him through retirement.

Wine, steel, cotton and milk powder were just some of the failed ventures he explored through the business, as well as an aeroplane pilot school, a trade showroom in China, a coal mine, a gold mine, a tin mine and "even an automatic car wash."

"A lot of them didn't come off," he conceded on Wednesday.

He told the commission he attempted to use his diplomatic and consular weight around Asia to help Chinese business associates with a view to also making a commission.

The ICAC also heard extracts from phone calls and text messages in which he dealt directly with property developers and investors. Asked why he had these lines of communication he said, "We network. Politicians network. That's our lifeblood."

Mr Maguire also admitted that he accepted thousands of dollars of cash on multiple occasions at Parliament House, for a cash for visa scam he ran with his associate Maggie Wang.

Under the scheme Mr Maguire would source business owners that would agree to employ Chinese nationals for kickbacks of around $30,000. The visa applicants would never show up for actual employment.

He told the commission he clearly remembered raising concerns with Ms Wang, telling her "you cannot put people at risk by breaking the rules."

Mr Robertson suggested he decided to proceed anyway because "you're making money out of it."

"Correct," Mr Maguire said.

Mr Maguire will continue his evidence in the witness box on Thursday.