It was a mild early evening in late June 2022, when a Liberal MP stood up to make a speech that may change the party forever.
Without fanfare, at a time of day that few people were watching the goings-on in the green-hued Legislative Assembly, Kellyville MP Ray Williams made an explosive allegation; that disgraced property developer Jean Nassif had funded members of the Liberal Party to stack the Hills Shire Council with people favourable to his developments.
Mr Williams named a series of Liberal operatives and a sitting MP as potentially implicated in the bribery and council-stacking scheme.
"This issue must be investigated," he told the NSW parliament.
About four years and eight days later, the NSW Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) made public the worst-kept secret on Macquarie Street, that the powerful integrity watchdog had, indeed, taken up the call.
"What I said in parliament four years ago had nothing to do with factions," Mr Williams told the ABC.
"It had everything to do with bad people in the Liberal Party doing the wrong thing, and there is no place for bad people in any political party, or bad people having a role in selecting members for local, state or federal parliament."
ICAC's investigation, codenamed Operation Rosny, has gone well beyond the allegations made by Mr Williams in his short but seismic speech.
What ICAC's Operation Rosny will investigate
Eight weeks of public hearings starting on Monday will examine:
- Whether political donations were sought or made by some NSW Liberal Party operatives in breach of electoral laws
- Whether Catholic Schools NSW made donations, arranged and approved by chief executive Dallas McInerney, without disclosing them and above donation caps to help fund Liberal Party branch-stacking
- Whether company Paslibdan made donations in breach of electoral laws on behalf of hotelier Michael O'Hara to help fund branch-stacking
- Whether Mr Nassif made donations in breach of electoral laws to help fund branch-stacking in return for favours, including damaging people's careers
- Whether former Strathfield Labor councillor Sharangan Maheswaran and/or current councillor Karen Pensabene engaged in conduct including spying and blackmail towards councillor Matthew Blackmore.
These are some of the key players identified by the corruption watchdog ahead of the hearings.
Toplace founder Jean Nassif once described himself as the "number one builder/developer on the face of the Earth".
Best known for shoddy apartment complexes and flashy displays of wealth, Mr Nassif left Australia in late 2022 with an arrest warrant issued the following year over alleged fraud offences.
ICAC is investigating whether Mr Nassif made donations to NSW Liberal Party figures to help fund branch-stacking "in exchange for the pursuit of outcomes", including to damage the political career of former Liberal government minister David Elliott and to remove former NSW building commissioner David Chandler.
Toplace collapsed into administration in 2023 owing creditors more than $2 billion.
In a letter tabled at a 2023 parliamentary inquiry into the Hills Shire allegations, Mr Nassif described the allegations against him as "not credible".
ICAC has said it is also investigating whether donations were made by a company called Paslibdan on behalf of hotelier Michael O'Hara in breach of political donation laws.
Returns from the Australian Electoral Commission show Paslibdan has previously declared donations to conservative lobby group Advance Australia.
Mr O'Hara has not commented publicly on the allegations.
Christian Ellis started his political career in 2012 working for future Liberal premier Dominic Perrottet, who is not accused of wrongdoing.
He founded a Conservative Christian sub-faction within the party's right called the NSW Reformers in 2018 and was elected as a member of the Liberal Party State Executive in 2019.
It is the NSW Reformers that appear largely under the ICAC spotlight.
ICAC is investigating whether Mr Ellis and others sought or accepted donations, including from prohibited donors, that breached donation laws and that were used to assist in branch-stacking.
Mr Ellis was accused in a 2023 parliamentary inquiry of soliciting $50,000 from a businessman to unseat a sitting MP.
Mr Ellis did not appear at the parliamentary inquiry despite "extensive efforts to reach him" and has not publicly commented on the allegations.
Jean-Claude Perrottet is the younger brother of former NSW premier Dominic Perrottet.
Mr Perrottet previously worked for Damien Tudehope, who has resigned from the Liberal opposition frontbench after being called as a witness to the ICAC inquiry.
ICAC is investigating whether Mr Perrottet and others sought or accepted donations, including from prohibited donors, that breached donation laws and were used to assist in Liberal Party recruitment and/or renewal.
Mr Perrottet did not appear at the upper house inquiry into the Hills Shire allegations and sent a letter describing allegations against him as "completely false".
He was accused in that inquiry of soliciting $50,000 from a businessman to unseat a sitting MP.
Charles Perrottet is another brother of former NSW premier Dominic Perrottet.
He was elected to the Liberal Party's local government oversight committee in 2019.
ICAC is investigating whether Charles Perrottet and others sought or accepted donations from Mr Nassif or Toplace for branch-stacking.
Mr Perrottet declined to appear at the Hills Shire inquiry as he lives in Victoria, though said he reserved "my position in relation to the partisan, ill-informed, speculative and defamatory commentary".
Jeremy Greenwood is the owner and sole employee of registered lobbying firm JPG Advisory.
Listed clients include Catholic Schools NSW.
Mr Greenwood was a past director of now-deregistered lobbying firm Beckington Group, which once listed Toplace as a client.
ICAC is investigating whether Mr Greenwood and others sought or accepted donations including from prohibited donors, that breached donation laws, used to assist in Liberal Party recruitment and/or renewal.
Mr Greenwood did not appear as a witness at the 2023 parliamentary inquiry and was accused of "deliberate attempts to avoid giving evidence".
In a letter, he said he was "not aware of any money sought for branch stacking and have never been involved in any activity of this type".
Robert Assaf has worked for Catholic Schools NSW and Greyhound Racing NSW, both of which are current clients of Mr Greenwood's lobbying firm.
According to a dossier tabled in the 2023 parliamentary inquiry, he was a member of a Liberal Party committee.
He told the inquiry in 2023 "almost all contact with Mr Ellis has not existed for a couple of years" due to "personal differences", and denied any knowledge of branch-stacking.
ICAC is investigating whether Mr Assaf and others sought or accepted donations, including from prohibited donors, that breached donation laws, and were used to assist in Liberal Party recruitment and/or renewal.
Dallas McInerney is the head of Catholic Schools NSW.
He stood aside after ICAC announced it was investigating whether the organisation made donations, arranged and approved by Mr McInerney, that were not declared, over the legal limit and used for Liberal Party recruitment and/or renewal.
It is understood Catholic Schools NSW has written to Commonwealth authorities saying it is not aware of donations made by the organisation to any political parties.
Mr McInerney has been an active NSW Liberal Party member and was elected to the party's local government oversight committee in 2019 and 2021.
A dossier tabled to the parliamentary inquiry into the Hills Shire allegations included a 2020 NSW Reformers event brochure that listed Mr McInerney among guest speakers on education in Australia.
ICAC is also investigating whether former Strathfield Labor councillor Sharangan Maheswaran and/or current councillor Karen Pensabene engaged in blackmail and spying against former mayor Matthew Blackmore, who now sits on the council.
Mr Maheswaran has disputed allegations against him and Cr Pensabene did not respond to a request for comment.
Mr Maheswaran was reportedly an executive at Toplace before being elected to the council and is now listed as a lawyer at XD Law.
Ms Pensabene remains on the Strathfield Council.
