9.01amThe unlikely branch taken by the ReformersBy Alexandra SmithA group of twenty-something blokes who called themselves the Reformers dared to dream big. The like-minded right-wing Catholics had a plan to take over the Liberal Party one branch at a time to make the conservative movement great again. In July 2018, God delivered.“Great news. God’s granted us a victory,” Reformers co-founder Robert Assaf boasted in a message to a supporter of the sub-faction of the Liberals. “We’ve officially taken the Coffs Harbour branch away from the Left wing.”In another message to wealthy hotelier Michael O’Hara, who a month earlier had given the Reformers $25,000, Assaf said: “It’s the only branch in the whole federal electorate of Cowper, meaning it holds more influence than other branches in the state.”Liberals were stunned when the Coffs Harbour branch featured in the blockbuster Independent Commission Against Corruption’s inquiry into illegal donations and branch stacking. Not so much because the Reformers pulled off a coup, but that the Liberals even existed in Nationals heartland.A senior NSW Liberal quipped: “I didn’t even know we had a Coffs branch”.Senior writer Alexandra Smith has the full story here. 9.00amWatch: Kate McClymont on week two’s biggest momentsBy It was yet another explosive week of ICAC hearings with phone taps, “injections of cash” and secret meetings revealed to the commission. Chief investigative reporter Kate McClymont has broken down the most important moments here:9.00amWelcome to week threeBy Jessica McSweeneyHello and welcome to the third week of our live coverage of the ICAC’s Operation Rosny.I’m state political reporter Jessica McSweeney, and along with the Herald’s senior writers, I’ll be bringing you all the news as it happens in the hearing room. Today we are expecting to hear from Jeremy Greenwood, a lobbyist and Liberal Party figure who also refused to give evidence before a 2023 parliamentary inquiry looking into illegal donations in the Hills.Before Greenwood begins his evidence, lets take a look at what we covered last week:Robert Assaf, a founding member of the religious factional group the Reformers, was paid $135,000 a year to work at Catholic Schools NSW, where he would sometimes do Liberal Party factional work during 9-5 hours. Fellow Reformer Jean-Claude Perrottet felt he wasn’t being fairly compensated for his factional work, while Assaf received “$135k for Rob to work for faction”, texts revealed.Intercepted phone calls between Jean-Claude Perrottet and Jean Nassif were played to the commission on Thursday, revealing the property developer had offered $100,000 to support an unnamed Perrottet brother in a preselection. In another call, after Dominic Perrottet became premier in October 2021, Nassif asked Jean-Claude to “take a message to Charlie or to Dom – the building commissioner, we need to stop him”. This was part of his alleged campaign to have David Chandler removed from the role.Jean-Claude Perrottet said Nassif’s claims were “nonsense” and denied knowing about any untoward relationship between Nassif and his brother, Charles.Jean-Claude Perrottet received regular $5000 payments from Beckington, the company set up by Jeremy Greenwood and Christian Ellis, which held Catholic Schools NSW and hotelier Michael O’Hara as clients. Perrottet couldn’t remember what work he did to justify what counsel assisting Juliet Curtin described as “substantial injections of cash”.The now stood down Liberal shadow attorney general, Damien Tudehope, admitted he leaked a confidential draft report into illegal donations in the Hills to one of the key witnesses who had gone to lengths to avoid the inquiry, Jeremy Greenwood.1 of 1