Received

Shoppers have pounced on sales and fuelled an unexpectedly strong month for retail but the preoccupation with discounting suggests consumers are feeling squeezed.

A solid 0.7 per cent boost in May was well below the 0.1 per cent expected by economists and followed a flat result in April and a 0.4 per cent lift in March.

The Australian Bureau of Statistics said retail turnover had been supported by higher spending on food and eating out, as well as a boost across non-essentials.

"This latest rise reflected some resilience in spending, with consumers taking advantage of larger-than-usual promotional activity and sales events for May," head of statistics Ben Dorber said.

Cost-of-living pressures were likely pushing people to take advantage of sale events, much like they did during Black Friday last year, Mr Dorber said.

The category known as "other retailing", which includes online-only retailers, florists and pharmaceutical and cosmetics retailers, recorded the largest rise over the month of 2.2 per cent.

The ABS chalked up this increase to an early start to end-of-financial-year discounting and the Click Frenzy Mayhem sales, as well as Mother's Day.

Household goods retailing lifted 0.6 per cent, although the increase followed three straight months of declines.

Two other major discretionary categories fell over the month, with clothing, footwear and personal accessories down 0.6 per cent and department stores falling 0.5 per cent.

It followed a boost in sales over April after colder-than-usual weather prompted consumers to splash out on warmer clothes.

Turnover lifted 1.4 per cent across cafes, restaurants and takeaway food services and 0.3 per cent for food retailing.

Mr Dorber said the uptick in food-related spending was largely a product of inflation, with the consumer price index revealing a 7.9 per cent lift in food prices in the 12 months to May.

Oxford Economics Australia head of macroeconomic forecasting Sean Langcake said the heightened spending at sales would be a short-term win for retailers but spending had effectively been pulled forward, with the likely result of weaker spending in coming months.

He said the Reserve Bank would likely recognise the temporary nature of the May uplift, with household spending generally trending down as high inflation and rising interest rates cut into budgets.

"The data is unlikely to move the needle for the RBA and we still expect to see two more rate hikes in the coming months."

Ahead of the July cash rate decision next week, the RBA will also be weighing up weaker-than-expected inflation for May as well as resilient job vacancy numbers.

While the number of job vacancies fell two per cent between February and May, they remain almost 90 per cent higher than pre-pandemic levels.

Commonwealth Bank of Australia economists Harry Ottley and Stephen Wu said the inflation figure would be the RBA's priority and be enough to keep the cash rate on hold in July before one more hike in August.

The bank's economists were hesitant to place too much emphasis on the strong May retail report with a longer-term view indicating sluggishness, especially in per capita and volumes terms.

"We continue to anticipate further slowing in consumer spending for the remainder of this year as the full extent of monetary tightening flows through and the impact of fixed rate roll off reaches its peak."

© AAP 2023

Former NSW premier Gladys Berejiklian says she's always worked her hardest "in the public interest" despite findings she acted corruptly while in a five-year relationship with a fellow Liberal MP.

The former Liberal leader, still revered by many in the party, made the comments in the wake of bombshell findings by the NSW corruption watchdog that she engaged in serious corrupt conduct between 2016 and 2018.

"At all times I have worked my hardest in the public interest," the 52-year-old said in a statement on Thursday.

"Nothing in this report demonstrates otherwise."

The Independent Commission Against Corruption report found the former premier breached the public trust by failing to disclose her personal relationship with Daryl Maguire when she was treasurer and later premier.

That included a cabinet committee that she sat on as it dealt with multi-million-dollar funding arrangments concerning projects enthusiastically pushed by Maguire in his Wagga Wagga electorate.

Operation Keppel began as a probe into Maguire but was expanded to the then-premier after she was compelled to reveal the relationship in public hearings in 2020.

Ms Berejiklian denied any wrongdoing, telling ICAC the romance, which began in 2015, had ended.

She resigned as premier in October 2021 when she officially became part of the investigation.

After examining phone taps and intercepted text messages, ICAC found both Ms Berejiklian and Maguire had engaged in serious corrupt conduct.

Ms Berejiklian breached the public trust in 2016 and 2017 in relation to funding promised to the Wagga Wagga-based Australian Clay Target Association.

"(She did so) without disclosing her close personal relationship with Mr Maguire, when she was in a position of a conflict of interest between her public duty and her private interest, which could objectively have the potential to influence the performance of her public duty," ICAC found.

Ms Berejiklian again engaged in serious corrupt conduct in relation to the Riverina Conservatorium of Music, another project advanced by Maguire, ICAC found.

She had taken part in a 2018 cabinet committee about the conservatorium and later determined to make a funding reservation of $20 million, without disclosing her "close personal relationship" with Maguire.

But ICAC will not refer Ms Berejiklian for potential prosecution, saying her conduct was not so serious as to merit criminal punishment.

Legal reasons also meant a nefarious motive was required.

Former Liberal treasurer Matt Kean slammed ICAC for making a finding of corrupt conduct and then effectively admitting it did not have enough evidence for charges to be laid.

"So it has taken ICAC two years to tell us that Gladys Berejiklian has not broken the law," he tweeted.

Labor Premier Chris Minns said the finding did not take away from Ms Berejiklian's handling of the coronavirus pandemic in NSW from 2020, which was "excellent".

"It is important, however, for all politicians in NSW and anyone in public life or positions of leadership to understand we must manage conflicts of interest and declare them," he said.

The report made 18 recommendations including amending the code of conduct for MPs on the limited circumstances in which it is acceptable to intermingle parliamentary duties with personal or private activities.

After quitting office, Ms Berejiklian turned down an opportunity to run for federal parliament before moving into the private sector as an Optus executive.

Through a spokesman, Ms Berejikian said serving the people of NSW was an honour and privilege.

"Thank you to members of the public for their incredible support," she said.

"This will sustain me always. The report is currently being examined by my legal team."

ICAC did refer Maguire for possible misconduct in public office charges, after numerous findings that he also engaged in serious misconduct between 2012 and 2018 and used his office to line his pockets.

Maguire, 64, is already facing criminal charges stemming from conduct exposed at an earlier ICAC inquiry, including for giving false and misleading evidence to that inquiry.

© AAP 2023

Former NSW premier Gladys Berejiklian has defended herself and is considering legal options after a watchdog found she acted corruptly while in a five-year relationship with a fellow Liberal MP.

The former Liberal leader, still revered by many in the party, maintained she'd always worked her hardest in the public interest after the NSW corruption body's bombshell findings were released on Thursday.

"Nothing in this report demonstrates otherwise," she said in a statement.

The 688-page Independent Commission Against Corruption report found she had breached the public trust by failing to disclose her personal relationship with Daryl Maguire when she was treasurer and later premier.

That included sitting on a cabinet committee as it dealt with multi-million-dollar funding arrangments concerning projects enthusiastically pushed by Maguire to benefit his Wagga Wagga electorate.

Dubbed "an unsatisfactory witness in many respects", Ms Berejiklian's denial that she had ever suspected Maguire was potentially engaging in corrupt conduct was also rejected.

Her failure to act on that suspicion and report Maguire formed one of the five planks of the ICAC's ultimate "serious corrupt conduct" finding against her.

"Her deliberate failure to disclose the relationship in those circumstances, knowing her public duty, was wilful," ICAC said.

"It was also in bad faith: there was no reasonable excuse or justification for it."

Operation Keppel began as a probe into Maguire but was expanded to the then-premier after she was compelled to reveal the relationship in public hearings in 2020.

Ms Berejiklian denied any wrongdoing, telling ICAC the romance, which began in 2015, had ended.

She resigned as premier in October 2021 when she officially became part of the investigation.

After examining phone taps and intercepted text messages, ICAC found both Ms Berejiklian and Maguire had engaged in serious corrupt conduct.

In 2016 and 2017, Ms Berejiklian breached the public trust by hiding her "close personal relationship" with Maguire while considering funding promised to the Wagga Wagga-based Australian Clay Target Association.

That conflict of interest "could objectively have the potential to influence the performance of her public duty," ICAC said.

Ms Berejiklian again engaged in serious corrupt conduct in relation to the Riverina Conservatorium of Music, another project advanced by Maguire.

She had taken part in a 2018 cabinet committee about the conservatorium and later determined to make a funding reservation of $20 million, without disclosing her "close personal relationship" with Maguire.

But ICAC will not refer Ms Berejiklian for potential prosecution, saying her conduct was not so serious as to merit criminal punishment.

Legal reasons also meant a nefarious motive was required. ICAC also noted she had not obtained any financial advantage.

Several senior Liberals responded by praising their former boss's leadership and tireless work, particularly during the first year of the coronavirus pandemic.

Former Liberal treasurer Matt Kean went further, attacking ICAC for taking "two years to tell us that Gladys Berejiklian has not broken the law".

Labor Premier Chris Minns said while the serious findings couldn't take away from Ms Berejiklian's "excellent" handling of the pandemic, they showed that anyone in public life or positions of leadership must declare conflicts of interest.

The report made 18 recommendations seeking to address "systemic weaknesses" in the ministerial code of conduct, including explicitly addressing side hustles that formed the basis of the damning findings against Maguire.

Ms Berejiklian has since moved into the private sector as an executive with Optus, who declined to comment on her future.

Through a spokesman, the former premier said serving the people of NSW was an honour and privilege.

"Thank you to members of the public for their incredible support," she said.

"This will sustain me always. The report is currently being examined by my legal team."

ICAC did refer Maguire for possible misconduct in public office charges, after numerous findings that he also engaged in serious misconduct between 2012 and 2018 and used his office to line his pockets.

Maguire, 64, is already facing criminal charges stemming from conduct exposed at an earlier ICAC inquiry, including for giving false and misleading evidence to that inquiry.

© AAP 2023