Updated September 9, 2026 — 5:41pm,first published 11:58amLiberal lobbyist Jeremy Greenwood said he paid consultant Anita Perrottet a $10,000 monthly retainer to give a “mum’s perspective” on vaping as he was pressed on why there were inconsistencies in the pair’s evidence to a corruption inquiry.The Independent Commission Against Corruption has again heard there were no emails reflecting any work done by Anita Perrottet for Greenwood, nor any phone records showing direct calls between them, despite Anita being paid $660,000 over two years for “strategic advice”.Liberal lobbyist Jeremy Greenwood outside the ICAC on Wednesday.Sitthixay DitthavongOn Wednesday, the commission heard Greenwood had given evidence during an earlier private hearing that he had weekly Zoom meetings with Anita Perrottet of up to an hour long.Perrottet, meanwhile, in her evidence said their meetings were ad hoc and flexible, and contact was either using her husband Charles’s phone or in person.Counsel assisting Dr Peggy Dwyer, SC, pressed Greenwood on whether Anita Perrottet actually did any work for his lobbying business Beckington. Greenwood insisted she did and cited the advice she gave him on vaping.The commission is investigating whether Greenwood, his business partner Christian Ellis and former Liberal powerbroker Charles Perrottet shared in a $2 million bribe from developer Jean Nassif which was washed through Beckington and later JPG Advisory, which Greenwood set up on his own.Greenwood told the commission that Anita Perrottet provided a “mum’s perspective” on vaping, which was highly valuable to his firm because he had a vaping-related client.Dwyer said there were clear inconsistencies in Greenwood and Anita’s evidence.“I suggest to you that the reason that you and Anita haven’t got your stories straight is because Anita was not working for Beckington genuinely at that time,” Dwyer asked.“No, she definitely was,” Greenwood said.Greenwood told the commission that although Charles had given some advice about how to help Nassif with planning outcomes, he asked not to be remunerated and instead his share was paid to Anita Perrottet’s marketing business Macquarie Consulting.The commission also heard Greenwood found it “really disrespectful” that Nassif was tardy with payments owed to him because the lobbyist had a Porsche on the way.Texts between Greenwood and Ellis, a Liberal apparatchik, revealed the pair were expecting $400,000 from Nassif’s construction company Toplace but were having trouble extracting it from the developer.Jeremy Greenwood leaves the ICAC on Monday.George ChanEllis assured Greenwood $400,000 was coming, to which Greenwood responded: “Good because the Porsche comes in January, and I’m getting worried, but it’s also just really disrespectful from him.”Those payments were part of a deal for Beckington to help secure a fast-track process for Nassif’s developments. Each fast-tracked project would earn Beckington $1 million under Nassif’s promise.Dwyer suggested to Greenwood he fabricated evidence on Monday about a pink piece of paper which he insisted was the only record of Nassif’s promise to pay for each fast-tracked development project.“Not once in any private examination did you mention a pink or fuchsia or any other coloured piece of paper that was folded into the back of Larissa Mouawad’s phone and purported to name two development projects. Is that right?” Dwyer asked. Greenwood denied this.Dwyer asked: “And that’s because it was a recent invention that you came up with on Monday or prior to Monday to explain that arrangement, isn’t it?”“No, that’s absolutely incorrect,” Greenwood said.Dwyer told the corruption inquiry no one involved in the agreement, including Mouawad, who was general manager of Toplace, or the company’s lawyer Sharangan Maheswaran, ever mentioned this piece of paper in private evidence.The commission also heard on Wednesday Greenwood told a secret ICAC hearing in May 2023 Maheswaran acted as his personal solicitor and they had a verbal costs agreement.Greenwood gave an example that while they did not have an agreement on an hourly cost, on one occasion Maheswaran needed $30,000, which he happily paid.Greenwood could not say how many times Maheswaran invoiced him, but said it was probably more than five times.The commission has previously heard evidence from Greenwood that Maheswaran, who worked for Toplace, was trying to stop large project payments being made to Beckington, and got his own legal advice about the legality of the payments if they were considered success fees.Dwyer put to Greenwood: “I suggest to you the threads of your story pull apart very quickly.”“Really,” Greenwood retorted.Sydney’s best coverage of the ICAC inquiryAlexandra Smith is a senior writer and former state political editor of The Sydney Morning Herald.Connect via X or email.Jessica McSweeney is a reporter at The Sydney Morning Herald covering state politics and urban affairs.Connect via email.From our partners