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The Independent Commission Against Corruption's Operation Rosny public hearings into Liberal branch stacking and alleged blackmail by Labor councillors concluded on Tuesday after 10 weeks. Former Icac assistant commissioner Anthony Whealy says the inquiry's impact will be definitive rulings on political donations and a carefully considered final report.
The Independent Commission Against Corruption's public hearings for Operation Rosny ended on Tuesday, 10 weeks after they began in July. The inquiry examined three main allegations that former Icac assistant commissioner Anthony Whealy KC likens to a three-tentacled octopus.
It concluded without a major scalp, disappointing Icac watchers who expected another spectacle like the premiership-ending appearances of Gladys Berejiklian, Barry O'Farrell and Nick Greiner. Whealy, who chairs the Centre for Public Integrity, says the measure of an inquiry's success does not have anything to do with resignations. He says the impact of Rosny will be twofold.
Icac Rosny Inquiry Definitive Rulings Political Donations
First, there will be a series of definitive rulings on what is a political donation in a carefully considered report that draws all the strands together. Second, and most importantly, he says, this will have all played out in public. The counsel assisting the inquiry, Peggy Dwyer SC, set out the complicated allegations in detail on the opening day in July.
Dwyer emphasised the central role of electoral donations laws, observing that money in politics, as in other spheres of life, has the potential to corrupt. The hearings also examined allegations of blackmail by Labor councillors in Sydney's inner west. The inquiry began with the promise of allegations that senior New South Wales Liberal politicians supported the branch-stacking efforts of a factional group of young conservative Christians known as the Reformers.
The anti-corruption watchdog examined whether the Reformers took prohibited or undeclared donations to support branch stacking. They planned to recruit 5,000 Christian conservatives and thereby take control of the NSW division of the Liberal party. The commission also examined whether three Liberal figures took $2m in donations from property developer Jean Nassif to support branch stacking, damage the career of the then Liberal minister David Elliott and remove the building commissioner David Chandler.
Some of those named in the allegations stated payments for factional work do not count as donations to a political party. Alternatively, they said the payments were for genuine lobbying and consulting work, not political outcomes. In response to a recent parliamentary question about whether payments to factional groups inside parties were donations, the NSW Electoral Commission said it would not comment on matters referred to Rosny. Icac's ruling in the untested area should be more conclusive.
Icac Rosny Public Hearings Darkly Entertaining Drama
Rosny's public hearings have been, at times, darkly entertaining. There has been tragedy, comedy and unintended satire. Nassif raged against allegations of corruption as well as Elliott and Chandler. He claimed he had left Australia to receive an international award for number one businessman from an Arabic background.
He said he would return after he had collected a beautiful legal team who are willing to fight politicians to clear my name. But, he told the patient Dwyer, he would not come back to be killed by the mafia boys. Whealy describes Nassif's appearance as the theatre of the absurd. It is his opinion that most of the fugitive developer's evidence will not be accepted by the commission.
The transparency advocate says 20 years ago public hearings could expose witnesses to embarrassing media coverage before any findings of corruption were made or criminal prosecutions recommended. These days the rules of procedural fairness are very carefully observed, he says, such as making it very clear when someone is not the subject of any Icac allegations. Still, Whealy's take does not appease those who were tangentially caught up in proceedings.
One senior Liberal complained of the frequent name-dropping of politicians not subject to allegations. Taylor, who is not accused of wrongdoing, was forced to repeatedly deny making payments to the Reformers. He declined to provide a running commentary on matters before Icac. There have been consequences for some of those named in Icac's allegations.
Icac Rosny Inquiry Consequences for Named Witnesses
Dallas McInerney lost his job as the chief executive of Catholic Schools NSW days after he admitted performing a factory reset on his iPhone. He had potentially wiped critical evidence after receiving a security alert from his bank. Damien Tudehope, whose upper house seat will be contested at next year's NSW election, admitted to leaking a confidential draft report from a 2023 parliamentary inquiry to Liberal factional figure Jeremy Greenwood.
He remains stood aside as the Liberals' upper house leader and shadow attorney general. Charles Perrottet, a person of interest in the Nassif drama, has taken leave of absence from his role as head of strategy at BP during the inquiry. Other witnesses have cited the strain on their lives in the four years since the then premier Dominic Perrottet referred allegations in a June 2022 parliamentary speech to the watchdog.
Icac Rosny Inquiry Dominic Perrottet Family Members Evidence
The former premier's name has been dropped more than most. He appeared in messages as Dom and in phone taps of Nassif as my boy and my best friend. Two of his 11 siblings, Charles and Jean-Claude, and his sister-in-law Anita appeared before the inquiry. Anita Perrottet, who was not named in Icac's allegations, rejected the suggestion she had lied to the commission to cover illegal donations to her husband.
The presiding commissioner, Fabian Gleeson SC, stated explicitly for the record in week six that Dominic Perrottet was not a person of interest. This ended speculation the former premier, who now lives and works in the US, could make a surprise appearance. Whealy says Dominic Perrottet retains a sparkling reputation. He was not called and that is a reflection of the evidence.
The inquiry's final report will draw together the strands of the three main allegations and deliver definitive rulings on the untested area of political donations.
NSW Liberal Party Branch Stacking Political Donations Jean Nassif
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