Former NSW premier Mike Baird had told the corruption inquiry into Gladys Berejiklian he was “incredulous” when her secret relationship with Daryl Maguire was exposed.

The now boss of Hammondcare spent two hours in the witness box answering questions, including whether his then-Treasurer, Ms Berejiklian, should have disclosed who she was dating.

“Certainly I think that should have been disclosed,” he said.

“In the context of potential private interests, that is good practice and it should have been disclosed.”

“When you say disclosed, to who?” Counsel Assisting Scott Robertson Asked.

“Me, as Premier,” he answered.

In relation to Mr Maguire, Mr Baird said “there were concerns” within the partyroom.

“He was certainly aggressive… and at times abusive to staff, public servants and MPs.”

Outside the Commission, Mr Baird said he was “devastated” to be called to give evidence, and that “Gladys is a close personal friend”.

When asked if he thought she was capable of corrupt activity, he said: “Knowing her… in terms of integrity and character, she could have managed the conflict if it was disclosed… she absolutely had the capacity to do that.”

One of Mr Baird’s closest advisors also took the stand today, giving evidence over a $5.5 million grant to redevelop a gun club in Mr Maguire’s electorate of Wagga Wagga.

Nigel Blunden told the commission, in his opinion, the project didn’t stack up.

“It was a case of… is this really the most appropriate expenditure of $5.5 million of taxpayers’ money?” he said via video link.

A memo written by Mr Blunden was tabled, showing his advice to Mr Baird was to “oppose” the funding, even though “Gladys and Ayres want it”.

“As Joel Goodson famously said, sometimes you gotta say WTF.”

Counsel assisting asked: “That’s Joel Goodson as in the Tom Cruise character from Risky Business, was that right?”

“Yes,” Mr Blunden answered.

He also at the time joked that the Wagga shooting range would “be known as the Maguire International Shooting Centre of Excellence”.

Ms Berejiklian’s legal team is arguing she supported the Wagga project in 2016 for political reasons, to recover votes in the bush, following the fallout from the greyhound racing ban, which was eventually overturned.