Source : Perth Now news
The former head of Catholic Schools NSW faced fresh scrutiny on Wednesday after a corruption inquiry was told he wiped key devices in the middle of giving evidence.
Former chief executive Mr Dallas McInerney was questioned at length as ICAC examined whether Beckington, a consultancy hired by Catholic Schools NSW, was paid for genuine work that left little paper trail.
Mr McInerney has insisted Beckington was engaged to provide legitimate government relations work, but the commission repeatedly pointed to messages and documents that appear to show years of factional political dealings and almost no written discussion of school work.
Operation Rosny is examining whether public and private education money was diverted into factional operations tied to the conservative Christian-aligned Reformers group inside the NSW Liberal Party.
Mr McInerney, who has stood aside as chief executive and denies wrongdoing, has become a key witness.
On Wednesday, the commission was told that many of Mr McInerney’s WhatsApp messages with Mr Ellis and other political figures were likely set to disappear automatically.
Asked why he would use disappearing messages with an external service provider working for a body that oversees billions in school funding, Mr McInerney described it as standard practice and added: “I think it’s safe.”
The phone evidence then took a dramatic turn after the lunch break.
Mr McInerney revealed he had factory reset both his Catholic Schools NSW phone and iPad over the weekend, after being asked on Friday to produce messages.
Under questioning from counsel assisting the ICAC, Peggy Dwyer, SC, who appeared bewildered by the revelation, Mr McInerney accepted he knew exactly what a factory reset would do.
“I knew what I was doing,” Mr McInerney said, agreeing that after a reset “you lose everything”.
Mr McInerney said he wiped the phone after a banking issue involving Apple Pay and reset the iPad because he was returning both devices to Catholic Schools NSW, even though the organisation had not asked for them back and had not asked for them to be wiped.
As Ms Dwyer pressed him on why he had not disclosed that earlier, she told him: “Mr McEnany, that is just too cute.”
“To suggest that you were genuinely being forthcoming to this commission. You have hidden the fact that you have wiped those devices to determine whether it will come out in evidence,” Ms Dwyer said.
Mr McInerney said he had “only been forthcoming with my co-operation for this commission”.
The inquiry was also told of allegations of branch stacking, hidden political donations and consultancy arrangements that may have operated as kickbacks.
Ms Dwyer pressed Mr McInerney on why Beckington, run by Mr Christian Ellis and linked to Liberal operative Mr Jeremy Greenwood, was engaged in 2019 despite being a new business with no track record.
She took him to messages showing he helped shape the company’s early pitch and suggested it join the Public Relations Institute of Australia for “further cover”.
Ms Dwyer put to him that this was intended to give Beckington “the air of legitimacy”. Mr McInerney replied: “No.”
The hearing then turned to the lack of paperwork showing what Beckington actually did for Catholic Schools NSW. Mr McInerney maintained the firm contributed through meetings, calls and verbal advice that later informed final documents.
But when Ms Dwyer asked whether there was any written evidence showing Beckington had marked up or materially changed key strategy papers, he replied: “No.”
Ms Dwyer repeatedly contrasted the lack of written school-related material with a flood of messages about internal Liberal politics, Senate ambitions and factional manoeuvring.
One string of texts dealt with efforts to secure time with federal Opposition Leader Angus Taylor.
Mr McInerney told Mr Ellis: “Don’t worry about pestering. That’s how things happen. I’m pestering him big time.”
Other messages read out during the inquiry revealed the vulgar tone of some of the political exchanges.
In exchanges read to the commission, Mr McInerney mocked Liberal MP Ms Melissa McIntosh’s writing and called her “dumb as dog shit”, despite later insisting he had been “a massive supporter” of her.
Ms Dwyer also read messages from Mr Ellis in which he used racist language, referring to “these short wogs around the place throwing bombs”.
Asked about that message, Mr McInerney replied: “That’s for Mr Ellis to account for.”
“It’s not language I’d use,” he said.
The inquiry also returned to Mr McInerney’s political ambitions.
Ms Dwyer took him through messages from March 2023 that appeared to show discussion about Senate preselection and his prospects of entering parliament.
Mr McInerney resisted the suggestion he had spent significant time trying to secure a seat, but conceded he had considered a parliamentary or public career at various times.
When Ms Dwyer suggested he had to abandon that goal because he lacked the numbers, he replied: “There would have been a range of factors.”
The hearing widened further when the commission examined links between Beckington figures and the Hume Forum, a fundraising vehicle associated with Mr Taylor.
Mr McInerney confirmed he had attended events for the cause and supported it, but denied being a member and denied knowledge of any improper financial arrangement.
One message shown in evidence from July 2019 referred to Mr Ellis being told that “Dallas will sort out your dollar arrangements” with Mr Taylor and a Hume treasurer.
Mr McInerney told the commission he did not recall what that meant.
ICAC also revisited a 2021 message chain among factional players referring to a catch-up with Mr McInerney “to discuss money”.
Ms Dwyer suggested the men appeared to be discussing “an arrangement where those men would split dollars that you were giving”.
Mr McInerney answered: “No.”
Mr McInerney remained adamant Beckington’s contracts were lawful and useful to Catholic Schools NSW.
Ms Dwyer said that while there was no written evidence showing work for Catholic Schools NSW, there were “months, in fact years, of back and forth with Mr Ellis about factional dealings”.
“It is difficult, can I suggest to you, to escape the conclusion that most of the work you did with Mr Ellis during the time of Beckington related to factional work for the Liberal Party of NSW,” she said.
Mr McInerney replied: “Services were rendered to the company.”
