Jessica McSweeneyUpdated August 6, 2026 — 12:18pm,first published August 6, 2026 — 9:01amWelcome to today’s live coverageBy Jessica McSweeneyHello and welcome back to the Herald’s live coverage of the Independent Commission Against Corruption’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 news and analysis as it happens. Today we’ll continue with more evidence from key member of the religious, right-wing factional group the Reformers and younger brother of former premier Dominic Perrottet, Jean-Claude Perrottet.First, here’s a recap of what we covered yesterday:Jean-Claude Perrottet said he would, on occasion, pay for memberships during his time with the Reformers.A document presented to the commission showed Reformers figures listed potential staffers to plant in ministerial and electoral offices after the 2019 election, ranked on their ability to recruit new members.Perrottet was employed at Catholic Schools NSW until two months before public hearings began. He was told his position was being made redundant by then-chief executive Dallas McInerney.Messages shown to the commission claimed MP and factional enemy to the Reformers Alex Hawke suspected Perrottet was working on factional matters while a ministerial staffer, and sent a Liberal ally to try and “catch him”.Perrottet sent Christian Ellis a text message saying MPs were “getting scared about ICAC” while working in Damien Tudehope’s office.When asked about the perception from Jeremy Greenwood that Perrottet was obsessed with faction work and needed either “a Valium or a break”, Perrottet said he preferred the term “passionate”.You can follow the hearing livestream at this link.Latest Posts12.18pmPerrottet says he wanted to walk away from politicsBy Jessica McSweeneyJean-Claude Perrottet, a key Reformer who worked for MPs and earlier agreed he had a passion for factional work, in fact wanted to leave politics according to evidence in today’s hearing.Perrottet was just shown a draft message he wrote, but did not appear to send, to Michael O’Hara in 2019. O’Hara is a fellow person of interest to the corruption inquiry, which is investigating allegations he made political donations that were masked by bogus invoices.The draft message read: “Hi, Michael. I don’t think it’s appropriate for me to catch up. I have made a decision to take a step back from politics and just focus on my job with Damien [Tudehope] and finding a new job at the end of the year, as well as finishing my degree. I understand Christian [Ellis] has reached out going forward. I think it’s best to communicate with him re: any political matters.”Counsel assisting Juliet Curtin put to Perrottet that he was in fact doing the opposite, and was actually ramping up his Reformers work at the time.“At the end of 2019, I am having many conversations with many people about getting out of politics, going into finance, and totally walking away so as to start my life. So that, that’s the truth of that matter,” Perrottet said.11.49amJean-Claude Perrottet can’t recall reasons for ‘substantial injections of cash’By Jessica McSweeneyCounsel assisting Juliet Curtin is asking Jean-Claude Perrottet about “substantial injections of cash” it appeared he received from Beckington, the company set up by Christian Ellis and Jeremy Greenwood. He told the commission he didn’t recall any specific work he did for the company in 2020 or 2021, and couldn’t remember receiving payments. Jean-Claude Perrottet arrives at the ICAC on Thursday. Louise KennerleyCurtin produced evidence of at least five payments from Beckington to Jean-Claude Marketing Business in 2021, all around $5000 each.Perrottet could not remember if he did any marketing work for Beckington, or their clients, which the commission heard included Catholic Schools NSW and Jean Nassif’s Toplace. 10.58amThe right-wing warrior who supported the ReformersBy Alexandra SmithFormer Liberal party federal vice-president, Teena McQueen, the long-time right-wing warrior who defected to One Nation just before her sudden death in June, has emerged as a strong supporter of the Reformers.The commission has already heard that McQueen – who fellow right-winger Tony Abbott described as a “fine servant” of the Liberal Party with a “large and generous spirit” – may have paid a few bar tabs at Reformers’ events, which were designed to recruit new members.Jean-Claude Perrottet is telling the commission that McQueen may have also “provided the use of a boardroom” for Reformer events. He is being pressed on whether she gave cash to the Catholic subfaction of the Liberals.Counsel assisting Juliet Curtin is asking Perrottet whether “Ms McQueen did give some money for the purposes of funding Reformers’ work.” He says he does not know, but Curtin says it seems that Ms McQueen handed money to Dallas McInerney, the boss of Catholic Schools NSW, to be passed on to the Reformers.McInerney is a person of interest before the commission and will give evidence next week.10.36amCommission returns to issue of factional work at Catholic Schools NSWBy Jessica McSweeneyA recurring theme in the first two weeks of evidence before the ICAC has been time Reformers spent working on Liberal Party factional work while employed at Catholic Schools NSW.Counsel assisting, Juliet Curtin, has shown Jean-Claude Perrottet text messages he forwarded to fellow Reformer Christian Ellis from James Tudehope, a Catholic Schools NSW staffer and son of MP Damien Tudehope.Key member of the Reformers, Robert Assaf, gave evidence to the ICAC on Monday.James BrickwoodIn the messages, the younger Tudehope complains that his colleague at the education body and member of the Reformers, Robert Assaf, wasn’t pulling his weight at work.10.06amLiberals back Mark Latham’s ICAC motionBy Bevan ShieldsA little more on events in parliament last night.During a debate about whether ICAC was leaking information to the Herald – which the agency denies – Liberal MP Susan Carter told parliament the watchdog was like Caesar’s wife. “Both should be above suspicion,” she said.She acknowledged some Herald sources could be witnesses or persons of interest but claimed, without evidence, that it was “more likely … those sources are internal to ICAC”. She called ICAC’s denial of knowledge of leaks “disappointing”.Mark Latham’s motion to “thoroughly investigate” leaks to the Herald was defeated, despite support from the Liberals.Janie Barrett9.58amNext week’s witness list revealedBy Jessica McSweeneyThe ICAC has just released the list of witnesses to appear at next week’s hearings, and we’ll be hearing from some key persons of interest to the corruption inquiry.While we were first told to expect lobbyist and Liberal Party operative Jeremy Greenwood today, he’s now been moved to two days of hearings next week.We’ll also get two days of evidence from Catholic Schools NSW chief executive Dallas McInerney. The ICAC is investigating if McInerney directed allegedly bogus invoices be paid using money from the education body to a company linked to the Reformers, which were in fact political donations for the purpose of recruiting new members to the Liberal Party.9.31amICAC denies leaks after accusations by MPBy Bevan ShieldsJumping in here to give you an update on some interesting developments in NSW parliament last night.As you may have read yesterday, John Ruddick, a Libertarian Party member of the NSW upper house, has called for the ICAC’s examination to be paused pending an inquiry into whether the watchdog has been leaking information to the media.Ruddick claimed in parliament on Wednesday that Operation Rosny “appears to be tainted” because the Herald has revealed several details about the key players.NSW Libertarian Party MP John Ruddick.Janie Barrett9.01amICAC’s key playersBy We’re into the second day of evidence from Jean-Claude Perrottet, one of several persons of interest to this corruption inquiry, which is investigating if he played a role in allegedly soliciting donations to support Liberal party factional work from prohibited donors. Let’s take another look at the main players in these public hearings:9.01amOpinion: Pollies use ICAC to take out the trashBy Michael McGowanJohn Ruddick isn’t a name many people outside the insular world of NSW politics have heard of. But since the Independent Commission Against Corruption’s Operation Rosny inquiry began last week, Ruddick, a Libertarian Party upper house MP elected with 3.5 per cent of the statewide vote in 2023, has been on a lonely crusade to convince anyone credulous enough to listen that the anti-corruption watchdog is leaking to The Sydney Morning Herald.Last week, he went on Ben Fordham’s 2GB show to opine that, because the Herald keeps breaking stories about the inquiry, they must be coming from ICAC itself.The evidence seemed a little thin, beyond the fact we sometimes cite anonymous sources. But what he lacks in proof, Ruddick makes up for in conviction. On Tuesday, he was up in parliament asking Special Minister of State John Graham about it. This time he came with a smoking gun: printouts of six articles he’d read on the Herald’s website.I can’t speak for my colleagues, but, as the co-author of some of the articles Ruddick cited, all I can say is: “I wish.”It is a reminder that crisis breeds opportunity, and no one in NSW politics is letting Rosny go to waste.Read McGowan’s full column here.Pinned post from 9.01amWelcome to today’s live coverageBy Jessica McSweeneyHello and welcome back to the Herald’s live coverage of the Independent Commission Against Corruption’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 news and analysis as it happens. Today we’ll continue with more evidence from key member of the religious, right-wing factional group the Reformers and younger brother of former premier Dominic Perrottet, Jean-Claude Perrottet.First, here’s a recap of what we covered yesterday:Jean-Claude Perrottet said he would, on occasion, pay for memberships during his time with the Reformers.A document presented to the commission showed Reformers figures listed potential staffers to plant in ministerial and electoral offices after the 2019 election, ranked on their ability to recruit new members.Perrottet was employed at Catholic Schools NSW until two months before public hearings began. He was told his position was being made redundant by then-chief executive Dallas McInerney.Messages shown to the commission claimed MP and factional enemy to the Reformers Alex Hawke suspected Perrottet was working on factional matters while a ministerial staffer, and sent a Liberal ally to try and “catch him”.Perrottet sent Christian Ellis a text message saying MPs were “getting scared about ICAC” while working in Damien Tudehope’s office.When asked about the perception from Jeremy Greenwood that Perrottet was obsessed with faction work and needed either “a Valium or a break”, Perrottet said he preferred the term “passionate”.You can follow the hearing livestream at this link.1 of 1