Dodgy donations, desperate denials in Liberals probe
Farid Farid |
A paper trail of undeclared political donations and WhatsApp texts to boost a Christian faction in the Liberal Party are being exposed.
Damning revelations were laid bare in the first week of hearings at the NSW Independent Commission against Corruption, showing what some viewed as a confluence of personal greed and political ambition.
Operation Rosny is investigating potentially illicit political donations and alleged branch-stacking spearheaded by the Reformers, a Christian bloc that drew in a cavalcade of powerful figures.
These included fugitive property developer Jean Nassif and former Liberal premier Dominic Perrottet’s brothers Charles and Jean-Claude.
Expletive-ridden calls made by Nassif were played to the commission on the first day of hearings on Monday, which began with a powerful, three-hour forensic opening statement by counsel assisting Peggy Dwyer.
Nassif boasted about translating his financial might into political heft.
“I’ve got my hand on the state government and you’re going to see changes,” he told an associate.
Octogenarian pub tycoon Michael O’Hara said he was duped into donating some $160,000 to the Reformers because he believed in their ultraconservative cause, but did not fathom the scale of their operation.
On Tuesday, Federal Opposition Leader Angus Taylor was mentioned and spent subsequent days repeatedly denying allegations he was approached to fund the breakaway bloc.
The commission was told party powerbroker and former Catholic Schools NSW head Dallas McInerney wanted to “shake down” his factional NSW ally, who is not a party to proceedings or accused of any wrongdoing.
“I want to shake down Angus for 10K,” Mr McInerney wrote in a message shared at the inquiry on Tuesday.
Another WhatsApp message in a group chat among Reformers members showed Mr McInerney claiming he had secured a $15,000 payment and monthly donations of $3000 from Mr Taylor following an event in 2021.
Mr Taylor has insisted no payment was made but declined to provide further commentary.
A bombshell came on Wednesday with the disclosure of the contents of a salacious dirt file on former NSW police minister David Elliott by junior Liberal Party operatives for senior fixers.
The “David Elliott Shit Sheet” dossier included rumours of an extramarital affair, which he strenuously denied.
By Thursday, stories of factional infighting had reached fever pitch with Robert Assaf, another former party operative and staffer who worked for Tony Abbott, likening the turf wars to the movie Braveheart.
In a ratcheting up of tough questions by Dr Dwyer, Mr Assaf on Friday blamed “being immature and young” for failing to understand the consequences of undeclared donations from prohibited donors.
When the allegations were first raised in 2022 by a Liberal MP and a subsequent parliamentary inquiry was established in 2023, Jean-Claude Perrottet travelled to Fiji to avoid fronting the inquiry.
But he is due to appear at the inquiry on Tuesday as it enters the second week of an eight-week block.
Veteran Liberal MP Damien Tudehope is due to appear in the witness box on Monday.
AAP