‘Tricky or honest’: Liberals probed on dodgy donations
Farid Farid |
A corruption probe is turning up the heat on a Liberal party operative, grilling him on fake invoices, cash for a bucks’ party and “moolah”.
Robert Assaf, who worked as a staffer for former prime minister Tony Abbott, gave evidence for a second day to field questions about his alleged role in a scheme to funnel cash and move funds from prohibited donors.
A NSW Independent Commission Against Corruption is investigating alleged illicit political donations and branch-stacking, spearheaded by the Reformers, a conservative Christian faction among the NSW Liberals.
The 30-year-old answered nervously when pushed by Counsel Assisting Peggy Dwyer about his alleged conduct, which included not declaring solicited funds correctly.
“I did understand there was a concept of prohibited donors,” Mr Assaf told the commission on Friday.
“I was never introduced to the electoral laws in detail because I was always seen as an internal machination Liberal Party person.”
Mr Assaf blamed his accounting mistakes on a “tax problem”, after Dr Dwyer said undeclared donations totalling $160,000 from hotelier Michael O’Hara broke electoral funding rules.
“I’ll tell you what – if someone told me any point before I got my first summons to this what I had done was a problem, I would have gone straight to the electoral commission and reported it and sorted it out,” Mr Assaf said.
“I can’t recall any time where we discussed ‘are we doing something wrong?’ We never thought that way.”
But unsatisfactory, and at times quick, answers prompted a rare intervention from ICAC Assistant Commissioner Fabian Gleeson, who demanded clarity on a “straightforward honesty question”.
“Why do you have a difficulty, Mr Assaf, in distinguishing between tricky and honest conduct?” he chided.
“You were the active player. You know these invoices are being sent, and you wish to describe them as tricky?”
Dr Dwyer on Friday revealed other instances of receipts being unaccounted for, such as cash from the Reformers bank account being used for a bucks’ party.
“I referred to us being immature and young, using the account as an advance on our personal expenditure. This was one of those moments,” Mr Assaf said.
Another incident involved Christian Ellis, another former Liberal party staffer turned lobbyist, flinching at a $12,000 payment to Jean-Claude Perrottet.
“It’s a lot of moolah, but I think given the numbers, it’s fair,” Mr Ellis wrote in a message read out on Friday.
During the tense grilling, ICAC announced on Friday the younger brother of former premier Dominic Perrottet would be in the witness box on Tuesday.
He is accused of being part of the branch-stacking operation through a ramping up of memberships in the Hills Shire Council area and funnelling undeclared funds to hidden accounts.
When the allegations first surfaced in 2022 and a subsequent parliamentary inquiry was established in 2023, Mr Perrottet travelled to Fiji to avoid fronting the inquiry.
The Hills Shire is where alleged political moves were designed to benefit the business interests of fugitive property developer Jean Nassif, who is also being investigated.
Veteran Liberal MP Damien Tudehope has been called to give evidence and is due to appear in the witness box on Monday.
Three key allegations of corrupt conduct are being investigated by the inquiry, driven by “the confluence of personal greed and political ambitions”.
At the centre of them is Nassif, pursued by NSW Police after a two-year fraud investigation.
Nassif is believed to be living in Lebanon, and a warrant has been issued for his arrest.
AAP