Source : the age
This corruption inquiry spans three distinct allegations, including that fugitive property developer Jean Nassif may have paid money for political outcomes, and that Catholic Schools NSW money was paid into the pockets of Liberal Party factional operators.
Alexandra Smith has this handy video recap of the key allegations under investigation to get you up to speed.
We last heard evidence form lobbyist Jeremy Greenwood in early August when he was questioned about his company’s work for Catholic Schools NSW, which the ICAC is investigating as a potentially bogus arrangement to raise cash for Liberal Party branch stacking activity.
During Greenwood’s first stint in the witness box the corruption inquiry heard evidence that the lobbyist paid for Jean-Claude Perrottet to flee to Fiji to avoid giving evidence at a 2023 parliamentary inquiry, and that Greenwood paid Perrottet half of his ongoing contract with Catholic Schools NSW not for ongoing work, but because he acted as an intermediary and helped get the schools CEO to sign the contract.
He was read out a text he sent to Jean-Claude Perrottet referring to “filthy schools money” which he insisted was a joke, not evidence that his arrangement to pay his friend using Catholic Schools NSW money was bogus.
Greenwood couldn’t remember any details about specific work he did for the schools body.
Previous questioning focused on the first main allegation before the ICAC: that Dallas McInerney allegedly used sham contracts with Beckington and JPG Advisory to use Catholic Schools NSW money to support Liberal Party factional dealing. Today we expect Greenwood to be questioned about his involvement in allegation two: that Jean Nassif promised $2 million to be split between Greenwood, Charles Perrottet and Christian Ellis in exchange for political outcomes.
Hello and welcome to day 26 of our live coverage as Operation Rosny enters the seventh week of public hearings.
I’m state political reporter Jessica McSweeney, and I’ll be bringing you all the latest updates as the ICAC returns to an earlier witness, Jeremy Greenwood, for more questioning.
Before the hearing begins at 10am, let’s take a quick look at what we covered on Friday:
- Charles Perrottet denied suggestions from Peggy Dwyer, SC, that he repeatedly gave false evidence under oath and encourage his wife Anita to do the same.
- Dwyer suggested that Charles and Anita Perrottet “outsmarted” themselves by not getting their stories straight, after the couple gave conflicting evidence about payments received by Anita’s company, Macquarie Consulting. Charles Perrottet denied this, and said he may not have told his wife about the arrangement he had with Beckington, that Macquarie Consulting be paid for advice he gave.
- Phone tap recordings played to the ICAC showed Jean Nassif bragging about influence he believed he had in the state government, including that Dominic Perrottet was his “boy”, at the same time Charles Perrottet was giving him updates about the success of the right faction of the Liberal Party. Charles Perrottet denied ever offering political outcomes in exchange for payments.
- The ICAC heard that Charles Perrottet was aware that Sharangan Maheswaran was leaking damaging stories about David Chandler to a journalist, and said, “great, we are close” when told an article was being published.
- Perrottet said he was lying when he told Nassif he was “working on it” after the developer asked for his help to get the building commissioner off his back.
