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The state’s anti-corruption watchdog is examining whether Catholic Schools NSW struck a secret agreement to hire Liberal Party operatives who then used their consulting fees to bankroll a major branch-stacking scheme.
In a surprise revelation last Wednesday, the Independent Commission Against Corruption revealed that the influential chief executive of Catholic Schools NSW, Dallas McInerney, was a focus of its broader investigation into the links between hard-right Liberals and fugitive Sydney property developer Jean Nassif.
Operation Rosny will allege that Catholic Schools NSW – the governing body for 600 diocesan Catholic schools – made undeclared political donations exceeding legal caps under a scheme authorised by McInerney.
The precise mechanics of any alleged schemes, the total funds involved, and any political decisions influenced will be outlined in the public hearings on July 27.
However, the Herald has been told by multiple sources unauthorised to speak publicly that the commission’s focus on Catholic Schools NSW surrounds payments to consultants and lobbyists, and whether that money was then used to support branch stacking.
The ICAC hearings are expected to involve arguments about whether the work and subsequent invoices were legitimate.
The line of inquiry is a topic of discussion within the Liberal Party ahead of the commencement of public hearings.
Catholic Schools NSW distributes $3.5 billion in state and federal funding each year for the diocesan school system. It also raises more than $550 million in school fees and $100 million from other sources, such as investments.
In its statement last week, the ICAC said it was investigating whether the Catholic Schools NSW payments were “arranged and approved” by McInerney to be used in part for recruiting Liberal Party members.
The ICAC hearings will also investigate whether Liberal operatives Christian Ellis, Robert Assaf and Jeremy Greenwood “solicited or accepted political donations, including from prohibited donors” in amounts that were not declared and exceeded donation caps.
Investigators are also examining the actions of Charles and Jean-Claude Perrottet, the brothers of former NSW premier Dominic Perrottet.
Of the 10 people named by the ICAC as persons of interest, four have clear links to Catholic Schools NSW via lobbying, contracting work or permanent employment.
Greenwood, one of the Liberal figures being examined by the ICAC, has been a registered lobbyist for Catholic Schools NSW and the Catholic Archdiocese of Sydney.
Lobbying registers show his firm, JPG Advisory, has advised Catholic Schools NSW for several years. He is known to be a factional ally of McInerney – a leading figure in the hard-right faction of the Liberal Party.
Greenwood’s firm has several high-profile clients, including the Manly Warringah Sea Eagles, Greyhound Racing NSW, the NSW Minerals Council and Billbergia, the development giant behind a newly approved $3.5 billion twin-tower skyscraper project in the Sydney CBD.
In addition to Greenwood’s links to Catholic organisations, the ICAC target Jean-Claude Perrottet has been on the payroll of Catholic Schools NSW for more than two years as its head of communications and stakeholder relations. He quit last month amid the ICAC’s looming public inquiry.
The other key person named by the ICAC, Robert Assaf, once worked at Catholic Schools NSW as a policy and communications officer. His sister, Monica Assaf, is also a senior employee at Catholic Schools NSW who has recently taken leave.
The Herald has been told she recommended to the board that she stand aside for the duration of the inquiry given her brother’s involvement.
A spokesman from Catholic Schools NSW said Monica Assaf had taken leave for personal reasons and was “not the subject of any allegations”. She is not accused of any wrongdoing.
John Perrottet, the father of Jean-Claude and Charles, has stood down from his Catholic Schools NSW board seat in the aftermath of the allegations. Neither he nor his former premier son, Dominic, are accused of any wrongdoing.
Catholic Schools NSW declined to answer questions about the links between the organisation and the ICAC’s targets. However, it is expected to argue that it did not make any political donations.
It said in a statement last week that the board had approved “interim governance arrangements” under which McInerney would “temporarily step aside from the exercise of his day-to-day responsibilities”.
He also resigned from the board of the NSW Education Standards Authority.
The LinkedIn pages of several figures tied to Catholic Schools NSW appear to have been deleted.
Greenwood, Robert Assaf and Jean-Claude Perrottet denied to a 2023 parliamentary inquiry that they had been involved in branch stacking.
Asked whether he was aware of money sought for “branch recruitment” operations, Greenwood replied in writing at the time: “No, I am not aware of any money sought for branch stacking and have never been involved in any activity of this type.”
In an angry letter to the 2023 inquiry, Jean-Claude wrote: “False allegations against me have been politicised and publicised and have taken a serious toll on my mental health.”
Assaf said to the same inquiry: “I am not aware of any money sought for branch stacking activity or anything similar. I am also not aware of any prohibited donors contributing financially in any way.”
The fallout from the impending inquiry claimed its first political scalp last week when the opposition’s leader in the upper house, hard-right factional powerbroker Damien Tudehope, resigned from the Liberal frontbench because he had been called as a witness.
Tudehope will sit on the backbench for the duration of the public hearings.
He has not been accused of any wrongdoing but has links to five of the key players being investigated by the ICAC.
Ellis, Greenwood, Assaf and Jean-Claude Perrottet were all Liberal Party activists who had previously been linked to a group called the NSW Reformers.
The group was set up in 2018 with the goal of pushing conservatives to sign up to the party in a bid to stack local branches. A series of invitations show the Reformers were actively courting members via a series of events focused on conservative issues such as euthanasia, “radical gender ideology” and vaccine mandates during the COVID-19 pandemic.
These events, held between at least 2018 and 2021, boasted guests including the Catholic schools boss McInerney and now-sidelined Tudehope.
According to an anonymous document titled The Men Who Stole the Hills, the Reformers were using the national database of those who had registered to oppose the same-sex marriage plebiscite. The document and other revelations later prompted a parliamentary inquiry into the saga.
In 2019, leaked documents obtained by the Herald revealed that NSW Reformers was working to recruit thousands of members across Sydney.
One of the places they targeted was a Catholic tertiary institution, Campion College, in Toongabbie.
One first-year student told the Herald at the time that a group of about 20 students were taken to what they thought were social drinks at a pub in Castle Hill. However, it soon became apparent it was a recruitment drive for the Liberals.
Assisting the trio in their efforts was Dylan Whitelaw, who was employed by Catholic Schools NSW and also the secretary of the Mittagong branch of the Liberal Party, of which Dallas McInerney was the chair.
Whitelaw, 25, was previously a member of the NSW Liberal Party’s local government oversight committee, along with McInerney and Charles Perrottet.
The committee effectively controlled which candidates would run for local government.
While Whitelaw declined to attend the 2023 parliamentary inquiry into the stacking of the Hills branch of the party, he provided a written statement in which he denied being aware of any money sought for branch stacking.
Assistant commissioner Fabian Gleeson, SC, will preside at the ICAC inquiry.
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