The Independent Commission Against Corruption (Icac) held its third day of hearings on Wednesday as part of Operation Rosny, investigating allegations of corruption against people associated with the New South Wales Liberal party.
The inquiry is examining whether a group known as the Reformers, consisting of young conservative power brokers, allegedly solicited or accepted illegal donations to recruit or renew party members, a practice known as branch stacking. The group sought more conservative policies on same-sex marriage, abortion and euthanasia.
The 'Shit Sheet' on David Elliott
Former Liberal staffer and associate of the Reformers, Dylan Whitelaw, gave evidence to the inquiry. The hearing focused on a document referred to as the "David Elliott shit sheet", which included a section alleging former NSW Liberal minister David Elliott had an extramarital affair. Elliott vehemently denies the allegation. Under cross-examination from Elliott's lawyer, Whitelaw accepted that no affair had taken place.
Whitelaw told the commission that the Reformers had a "large distaste" for Elliott, who is part of the centre-right faction. He said at the time he believed the document was part of "standard factional warfare that occurs inside political parties", but he had since come to believe it was prepared at the instruction of fugitive property developer Jean Nassif.
Whitelaw said he did not recall being asked by Reformer Jeremy Greenwood in December 2020 to prepare the document with negative stories about Elliott. However, he accepted that messages showed he was asked to write about a 2020 incident in which Elliott, as police minister, was criticised for firing a prohibited machine gun at a corrections facility. He also told the commission he did not recall writing the "extramarital affair" section but remembered being told by Greenwood and Reformer Christian Ellis that they had photographic evidence of the affair.
In a statement reported by the Sydney Morning Herald on Wednesday, Elliott said he rejected "all the accusations made by the young boy, Dylan, and his colleagues on the religious right of the Liberal Party". He added: "As most of Sydney knows I'm a devoted husband of 30 years to a beautiful woman who doesn't deserve to be treated like this by the party she has sacrificed so much for," and said he looked forward to "the possibility of providing my own observations should the Commission see fit to invite me to give evidence".
Questions About Angus Taylor
Whitelaw was also asked about payments that federal opposition leader Angus Taylor purportedly agreed to make to the Reformers. On Tuesday, the inquiry heard a message from Catholic Schools NSW chief executive Dallas McInerney in which he allegedly said he would "shake down Angus for 10K", followed by a message from Whitelaw claiming Taylor had agreed to a "15k injection plus a 3k monthly donation". Taylor has denied making any payments and is not accused of wrongdoing.
Counsel assisting Juliet Curtin asked if the monthly payments of $3,000 purportedly agreed to by Taylor were reflected in an increase in the retainer paid by Catholic Schools NSW to registered lobbyist Beckington, controlled by Ellis and Greenwood. Whitelaw replied: "I wouldn't be able to talk to that." He said the contract between Catholic Schools NSW and Beckington was "absolutely an agreement where Mr McInerney, Mr Ellis and Mr Greenwood knew that very minimal work would be conducted in exchange," and that money was paid for the Reformers' work.
Allegations Regarding David Chandler
Whitelaw gave evidence about working as a staffer for then-planning minister Anthony Roberts. He described an incident in which Roberts' chief of staff, Chris Spence, claimed to have a potentially damaging video of building commissioner David Chandler. Spence allegedly planned to give the video to then-fair trading minister and current Liberal shadow minister Eleni Petinos to use in a budget estimates hearing. Whitelaw said he was not aware if Spence spoke to Petinos about the video, and he never saw it. He said Spence never told him where he got the video.
Asked if he knew whether Spence's plan to discredit Chandler "came to fruition", Whitelaw said he did not, and he did not know why Petinos would want Chandler removed. He recalled a subsequent conversation in which Spence said, "I can't believe it, Eleni fucked it up", or words to that effect.
On Monday, the inquiry heard a phone call in which Nassif allegedly claimed he paid for Chandler's removal and said "the fair trading minister is gonna to be one of my girls". Two months after the call, then-Premier Dominic Perrottet appointed Petinos as fair trading minister in a reshuffle. In July 2022, Chandler resigned after an investigation into his conduct requested by Petinos, which later cleared him. The watchdog will determine if Nassif's call was "an incidence of wishful thinking that serendipitously came to pass" or the result of work by the Reformers. Spence and Petinos are not accused of wrongdoing.
