The federal opposition leader has been named as a potential donor to a conservative Liberal group now being investigated by the New South Wales corruption watchdog. Angus Taylor himself is not accused of wrongdoing.
The Independent Commission Against Corruption (Icac) on Tuesday held its second day of Operation Rosny hearings into allegations of corruption against people associated with the NSW Liberal party.
In her opening statement on Monday, counsel assisting Peggy Dwyer SC said evidence would show how a group of young Liberal power brokers known as the “Reformers” allegedly “solicited or accepted” donations, including from prohibited donors, in amounts which were undeclared or exceeded caps, to recruit or renew members to the party.
Former NSW Liberal parliamentary staffer and associate of the Reformers, Dylan Whitelaw, who is not named in Icac’s allegations, gave evidence in Sydney on Tuesday.
During the hearing, Whitelaw was shown a screenshot of a message from the Catholic Schools NSW chief executive, Dallas McInerney. The screenshot was sent by Robert Assaf, a member of the Reformers, to a group chat that included Whitelaw in March 2021.
“I have breakfast club with ministers this Thursday morning, who can I get an update from? Re SCD [state council delegate] progress in the last six to 12 months. I want to shake down Angus for 10k,” the message, read aloud at the inquiry, allegedly said.
Asked if “Angus” referred to Angus Taylor, Whitelaw said: “I would assume it’s Angus Taylor”. Whitelaw said that “SCD progress” referred to a Reformers plan to have as many conservative members elected to the NSW Liberals state council as possible.
Whitelaw was shown another message, from days later, in which he allegedly wrote: “Dallas has told me he got the commitment from Angus, the 15k injection plus a 3k monthly donation!” He said he did not recall sending the messages, nor did he recall Taylor making a financial contribution to the Reformers.
“Potentially, Dallas had told me something that was incorrect. I’d be very surprised if Mr Taylor made any financial contribution,” Whitelaw said.
Counsel assisting Juliet Curtin asked if the purported donations “at least on this evidence is for the work that Reformers were doing?”
Whitelaw replied: “I would draw that conclusion from the fact it’s in a Reformers group chat but I don’t have a recollection around it.”
Earlier, asked if he believed Taylor was aware of the Reformers’ activities, he said: “I wouldn’t suggest in much detail, but he was aware, yes.”
A spokesperson for the federal Liberal leader said Taylor was “not a party to the matters before the commission, nor has he been approached”.
“These matters should be allowed to run their course free from political interference or commentary. As such, the leader will not be providing a running commentary on any matters before the commission. Donations and fundraising activities are declared in accordance with the rules and are a matter for the party.”
In a statement reported by the Sydney Morning Herald on 2 July, McInerney, who is a factional ally of Taylor, said he had offered to stand aside “to allow the work of Catholic Schools NSW to continue its important mission”.
On Tuesday morning, hotelier Michael O’Hara finished giving evidence to the inquiry. O’Hara, prohibited from making political donations because of his involvement in the liquor industry, is alleged to have paid $165,000 to the Reformers between 2018 and 2023.
“After what I heard yesterday and what I read in the newspapers … I am absolutely astounded by where it all ended up, which I had absolutely no knowledge of. I’m disgusted,” he said.
O’Hara admitted that he had made payments to registered lobbyist Beckington, founded by Reformers member Christian Ellis, and to a company controlled by Jean-Claude Perrottet, the younger brother of former Liberal premier Dominic Perrottet, to support branch-stacking efforts in Liberal branches in NSW, under the guise of financial advice or consulting services.
O’Hara was asked if he had discussed his donations to the Reformers during phone calls and text messages in September 2021 with now NSW shadow attorney general Damien Tudehope, his former business partner, following concerns O’Hara had about an anti-vaccination stance the group had taken.
“Well, the records show that I’ve spoken to him … I don’t recall the conversation,” he said. Asked if the contact would have included concerns about his support for the Reformers, O’Hara said: “It would appear so, yes.”
The inquiry heard O’Hara made his final payment in 2023 to the Reformers after coming to believe that the NSW Liberals under Dominic Perrottet had become “woke”.
“I may as well support the Greens or Teals, as Dominic was rolled on so many issues instead of prosecuting the principles I believed he stood for,” he allegedly wrote in an email to Jean-Claude Perrottet, who has previously denied any wrongdoing.
Explaining another message to Jean-Claude Perrottet, O’Hara told Icac his criticism of Perrottet was that “either he agrees with the woke crap that [former treasurer] Matt Kean was going on with, or else he was too weak to bring him into line. Either way, he was losing – he was showing he lost his spine”.
O’Hara told the inquiry that Scott “Morrison, the federal leader, had also gone woke, from Australia first, to exporting jobs overseas. He became weak, too”.
O’Hara said since hearing Dwyer’s opening statement, he now thought the Reformers’ scheme was “disgusting”. “I made a mistake in supporting them because they obviously went off the track,” he said.
Under cross-examination from his lawyer, Paul McGirr, O’Hara said it was not his understanding at the time that his payments to the Reformers were political donations.
On Tuesday, the current NSW Liberal leader, Kellie Sloane, who was not an MP at the time of the allegations Icac is investigating, told 2GB the first day of hearings had been “intensely uncomfortable listening”.
She said she stood by comments that Tudehope was a “man of integrity”. Tudehope, who is not accused of any wrongdoing, has stood aside from his roles as leader of the Liberals in the upper house and shadow attorney general after being called as a witness during the inquiry.
Icac’s hearings continue.
