Jessica McSweeneyUpdated August 4, 2026 — 11:24am,first published August 4, 2026 — 9:02amWelcome to today’s coverageBy Jessica McSweeneyHello and welcome to the Herald’s live coverage of the ICAC’s Operation Rosny public hearings.I’m state political reporter Jessica McSweeney, and along with the Herald’s senior writers, we’ll be bringing you all the latest updates as they happen from today’s hearing.Today we’re expecting to hear from businessman Frits Mare, who gave evidence to the 2023 parliamentary inquiry into branch stacking in the Hills that Jean-Claude Perrottet and Christian Ellis, both persons of interest in this ICAC inquiry, asked Mare for $50,000 to fund a branch operation to unseat Scott Morrison’s right-hand man Alex Hawke from his federal electorate. Mare wanted no part in their scheme.We’ll also hear from upper house MP Damien Tudehope, who stood down as shadow attorney general when he received his summons to appear as a witness. Tudehope has not been accused of wrongdoing, but is expected to answer questions about his connections to a right-wing factional group called the Reformers.Here’s what we covered yesterday:Robert Assaf revealed he met with fellow person of interest Jeremy Greenwood at a Belfield cafe to discuss their summons to the ICAC, knowing full well he was not meant to discuss it. The pair went for a walk and deliberately left their electronic devices in Greenwood’s car to avoid being traced.Assaf agreed Greenwood was trying to “standardise the message” and wanted to “align” evidence before key Reformers spoke to the ICAC.Jean-Claude Perrottet, a key Reformer and Catholic Schools NSW staffer, told fellow Reformer Christian Ellis in a text message that he was doing political work without being compensated fairly, while claiming Assaf received “$135k for Rob to work for faction”. The commission heard $135,000 was Assaf’s salary at the schools body, he denied he was paid for political work.Assaf said there were widespread concerns, as well as “jokes and insinuations”, in the right faction of the Liberal Party around Ellis’s connection to Nassif’s Toplace.It became a joke among Assaf’s associates, including Toplace lawyer Sharangan Maheswaran, that Assaf was a “rat” for wanting to appear before the 2023 parliamentary inquiry and be honest. Some would send him rat emojis, and he would be fed false information to try and weed out who he was speaking with, Assaf said.The ICAC is also livestreaming the hearing here.Latest Posts11.24amDamien Tudehope had ‘love-hate relationship’ with Liberal PartyBy Jessica McSweeneyThe only sitting MP to so far be called to give evidence to the commission, Liberal MP Damien Tudehope, is now answering questions from counsel assisting Dr Peggy Dwyer, SC.Dwyer has begun by establishing Tudehope’s professional and political experience before he was elected to parliament.Damien Tudehope is giving evidence to the commission on Tuesday. Steven SiewertHe joined the party in the 1970s but Tudehope described his experience as an “on and off love-hate relationship with the Liberal Party”. He was in and out of the party, Tudehope said, but has remained a consistent member since 2008.He worked for about two decades in a law firm with lawyer Michael O’Hara, who later became a hotelier and was the first witness called to the commission.Tudehope was first elected to parliament as the member for Epping, before stepping aside to let Dominic Perrottet take the seat, and in exchange Tudehope moved to the upper house, where he remains. He was most recently the shadow attorney-general, but stood aside from that position when he received the summons to appear before the ICAC.Tudehope is not a person of interest in the inquiry.11.00amLiberal figure thought $50k approach was to line Ellis’ pocketsBy Jessica McSweeneyAfter Christian Ellis and Jean-Claude Perrottet approached Frits Mare for $50,000 to stack branches in the Hills, an acquaintance told him he thought the pair would use it to line their pockets.A text message from former Liberal and now independent Northern Beaches Councillor Vincent De Luca to Mare read:“Btw still can’t believe that approach to you by Christian Ellis and JC Perrottet. Was thinking, $50k would stack more than Alex Hawke’s seat. I reckon it would actually (be) to supplement their incomes. I understand Ellis has been buying up property.”Mare told the commission that he was surprised to receive the text message, which was about a year after the approach had been made. He said he believed that De Luca sent the message with the goal of passing it to the ABC for its Four Corners program.Mare said he never paid Ellis or Perrottet any funds, nor directed anyone else to pay them. He said he believed the pair to be genuine when they approached him.That brings Mare’s evidence to a close, and the commission will now turn to Damien Tudehope.10.45am‘Persistent’ Jean-Claude Perrottet wanted businessman’s help By Jessica McSweeneyDespite Frits Mare telling Jean-Claude Perrottet that he was not interested in providing $50,000 to help him unseat federal MP Alex Hawke, the commission has heard of Perrottet’s “persistent” attempts to contact the businessman.Multiple text messages and records of unanswered phone calls from Perrottet were read to the commission, but Mare said he often did not reply.“I had no interest in getting involved in factional issues,” Mare said. “I’d say 95 per cent is one-way traffic from him to me.”10.30amReformers wanted $50k to unseat federal MPBy Jessica McSweeneyRetired businessman Frits Mare is telling the commission about a meeting with Jean-Claude Perrottet and Christian Ellis in which they asked for $50,000 to unseat Alex Hawke from the federal seat of Mitchell.Mare recalled that Ellis told him they wanted to set up a call centre to recruit new younger members into the Liberal Party with the goal of getting enough members to vote out Hawke. Hawke was a factional enemy of the Reformers, the religious right-wing group at the core of this inquiry.Retired businessman Frits Mare is not a person of interest.Steven SiewertEllis told Mare they needed $50,000 to set up the call centre.“I said that’s a lot of money, have you done a budget to work out how it’s going to be spent,” Mare told the commission.Ellis had not devised a budget. He said they would need to pay people to staff the call centre, which Mare said was surprising because in his mind recruitment was usually done voluntarily.Mare never paid them any money, and said he did not want to get involved in factional issues. 10.08amAll eyes on Tudehope todayBy Bevan ShieldsNSW parliament is sitting today, but I reckon plenty of MPs will have one eye on Damien Tudehope’s appearance before the ICAC later on.Tudehope, who has not been accused of any wrongdoing, stood down from the opposition frontbench last month when the ICAC announced Operation Rosny.Damien Tudehope arrives at the ICAC on Tuesday. Steven SiewertThe hard-right factional heavyweight has connections to five of the key people being investigated by the ICAC.The hard-right factional warrior was once the MP for Epping before standing aside to let future NSW premier Dominic Perrottet take the safe seat. In exchange, he was granted a spot in the NSW Legislative Council, where he has sat since 2019.9.50amMinns: Liberal ICAC woes are a win for One NationBy Jessica McSweeneyNSW Premier Chris Minns says there’s a key winner from the damaging allegations being aired at the ICAC – One Nation.Minns was asked during an interview on 2GB this morning if he was enjoying watching the Liberal Party suffer the pain of an ICAC inquiry.“What I think this actually does is give us all a bad name,” Minns said. “And for insurgent political parties like One Nation, I think they’re licking their lips and going, ‘oh, this is proof that the system isn’t working for many people’.”The ICAC is important because in some cases the fear of being dragged into an inquiry is enough to stop corruption before it happens, Minns said.9.02amWeek one, recappedBy The first week of public hearings heard explosive claims about efforts to hide political donations, the extraordinary influence of fugitive property developer Jean Nassif over Liberal Party figures, and efforts to smear the reputation of then MP David Elliott. Bevan Shields has the top five revelations here:9.02amSydney’s best ICAC coverageBy The Herald team have been following every second of this inquiry, scrutinising the evidence and bringing you fresh exclusives since long before these public hearings began.Here’s a taste of the team’s recent agenda-setting work:Chief investigative reporter Kate McClymont compares the theatre of the ICAC inquiry to Game of Thrones after witness Robert Assaf told the commission about betrayals, backstabbers and rats. Check out her must-read analysis here.An ICAC summons is almost always an unwanted invitation to come and tell the truth before the commission and the public. Yesterday the commission heard some persons of interest used that summons as an opportunity to “align” their stories – here’s senior writer Alexandra Smith and state politics reporter Jessica McSweeney’s wrap of the day’s evidence. Long before the ICAC hearings, key person of interest Christian Ellis “f---ed with the wrong person” when he attempted to unseat Sussan Ley in her seat of Farrer. Senior writer Bevan Shields has this roaring read of the 11-hour drive and the attempted coup that ushered in the beginning of the end for the Reformers.Pinned post from 9.02amWelcome to today’s coverageBy Jessica McSweeneyHello and welcome to the Herald’s live coverage of the ICAC’s Operation Rosny public hearings.I’m state political reporter Jessica McSweeney, and along with the Herald’s senior writers, we’ll be bringing you all the latest updates as they happen from today’s hearing.Today we’re expecting to hear from businessman Frits Mare, who gave evidence to the 2023 parliamentary inquiry into branch stacking in the Hills that Jean-Claude Perrottet and Christian Ellis, both persons of interest in this ICAC inquiry, asked Mare for $50,000 to fund a branch operation to unseat Scott Morrison’s right-hand man Alex Hawke from his federal electorate. Mare wanted no part in their scheme.We’ll also hear from upper house MP Damien Tudehope, who stood down as shadow attorney general when he received his summons to appear as a witness. Tudehope has not been accused of wrongdoing, but is expected to answer questions about his connections to a right-wing factional group called the Reformers.Here’s what we covered yesterday:Robert Assaf revealed he met with fellow person of interest Jeremy Greenwood at a Belfield cafe to discuss their summons to the ICAC, knowing full well he was not meant to discuss it. The pair went for a walk and deliberately left their electronic devices in Greenwood’s car to avoid being traced.Assaf agreed Greenwood was trying to “standardise the message” and wanted to “align” evidence before key Reformers spoke to the ICAC.Jean-Claude Perrottet, a key Reformer and Catholic Schools NSW staffer, told fellow Reformer Christian Ellis in a text message that he was doing political work without being compensated fairly, while claiming Assaf received “$135k for Rob to work for faction”. The commission heard $135,000 was Assaf’s salary at the schools body, he denied he was paid for political work.Assaf said there were widespread concerns, as well as “jokes and insinuations”, in the right faction of the Liberal Party around Ellis’s connection to Nassif’s Toplace.It became a joke among Assaf’s associates, including Toplace lawyer Sharangan Maheswaran, that Assaf was a “rat” for wanting to appear before the 2023 parliamentary inquiry and be honest. Some would send him rat emojis, and he would be fed false information to try and weed out who he was speaking with, Assaf said.The ICAC is also livestreaming the hearing here.1 of 1