ICAC Operation Rosny LIVE updates: Liberal Reformer operative, former Catholic Schools NSW employee Robert Assaf to appear

Welcome to day fourBy Jessica McSweeneyHello and welcome to day four of the first week of hearings into connections between Liberal Party figures, fugitive property developer Jean Nassif and Catholic Schools NSW.I’m state political reporter Jessica McSweeney, and I’ll be bringing you all the latest updates from today’s hearing as former Catholic Schools NSW staffer and Liberal Party factional operative Robert Assaf gives his evidence.On Wednesday, we heard from one-time Liberal staffer and former employee at Catholic Schools NSW Dylan Whitelaw. Here’s what we learnt:Angus Taylor told journalists “no payment was made” after earlier claims before the inquiry that he pledged donations to the Reformers, a religious faction in the Liberal Party.Whitelaw told the inquiry fellow Reformers figures and Liberal operatives had a “large distaste” for former Baulkham Hills MP David Elliott. A “shit sheet” was prepared detailing damaging claims about Elliott including that he had an affair, which Elliott strongly denies. During cross-examination, Whitelaw later said he “would accept” the affair never took place.Whitelaw said he believed the dirt file to be part of normal factional warfare at the time, but now accepts it was likely prepared to benefit the interests of Nassif.Whitelaw said that while working in MP Anthony Roberts’s office, then chief of staff Chris Spence provided former fair trading minister Eleni Petinos with a video of former building commissioner David Chandler that was damaging to his career, with the goal of using the information during a budget estimates hearing.Whitelaw said Spence was “frustrated” that Petinos “f---ed up” and the video was never used.Whitelaw recalled Spence saying words to the effect of “we’ve just got to get rid of this guy” about Chandler.You can tune in to the live-stream here from 10am.Latest Posts9.30amGhosts of ICACs past come back to haunt LiberalsBy Kate McClymontA sickening feeling of deja vu from the ghosts of ICAC past is likely to be haunting some Liberal Party figures tuning in to the daily drama of the Operation Rosny corruption inquiry.For the second day in a row, Dylan Whitelaw, 25, a former member of an ultra-conservative right-wing faction of the party called the Reformers, had difficulty recalling crucial events.When shown a “shit sheet” on then-Liberal police minister David Elliott, which Whitelaw was allegedly involved in compiling, he replied, “It doesn’t refresh my memory. There’s components in there that I have zero recollection of.”However, his recollection came sharply back into focus when he was asked about his dealings with Chris Spence, the former chief of staff to then-planning minister Anthony Roberts.Read more from Kate McClymont here.9.05amWho is Robert Assaf?By Jessica McSweeneyThe commission is expected to hear two days of evidence from Robert Assaf, a key member of the Reformers and former Catholic Schools NSW staffer.Assaf, who spent a year training to be a priest, was named as a person of interest to the ICAC when Operation Rosny hearings were first announced.Robert Assaf spent a year training to be a priest before he turned his attention to the NSW Liberal Party.InternetAssaf was a policy and communications officer at Catholic Schools NSW and worked there at the same time as fellow ICAC witness Dylan Whitelaw, and then CEO Dallas McInerney, who is being investigated over allegations he used money from the school body to support the Reformers through sham invoices. The commission is investigating whether Assaf, along with Jean-Claude Perrottet, Christian Ellis and Jeremy Greenwood, “solicited or accepted political donations, including from prohibited donors, in amounts that were not declared and exceeded applicable donation caps, for purposes that included the recruitment and/or renewal of members to the Liberal Party”. The commission heard evidence yesterday from Whitelaw that Assaf spent 60 per cent of his time performing activities to benefit the Reformers while employed by the schools’ body. 9.05amThe texts that embroiled Angus Taylor in ICAC claimsBy Jessica McSweeneyEarlier this week we heard evidence before the commission that former Catholic Schools NSW boss Dallas McInerney told members of the Reformers, the religious Liberal Party factional group at the centre of this inquiry, that he would ask Angus Taylor for donations. “I have breakfast club with ministers this Thursday morning. Who can I get an update from? Re SCD progress in last six to 12 months. I want to shake down Angus for 10k.”Dylan Whitelaw told the commission that “SCD” referred to state council delegates – McInerney wanted an update on how many Reformers were progressing to Liberal Party state council delegates before speaking with Taylor. Welcome to day fourBy Jessica McSweeneyHello and welcome to day four of the first week of hearings into connections between Liberal Party figures, fugitive property developer Jean Nassif and Catholic Schools NSW.I’m state political reporter Jessica McSweeney, and I’ll be bringing you all the latest updates from today’s hearing as former Catholic Schools NSW staffer and Liberal Party factional operative Robert Assaf gives his evidence.On Wednesday, we heard from one-time Liberal staffer and former employee at Catholic Schools NSW Dylan Whitelaw. Here’s what we learnt:Angus Taylor told journalists “no payment was made” after earlier claims before the inquiry that he pledged donations to the Reformers, a religious faction in the Liberal Party.Whitelaw told the inquiry fellow Reformers figures and Liberal operatives had a “large distaste” for former Baulkham Hills MP David Elliott. A “shit sheet” was prepared detailing damaging claims about Elliott including that he had an affair, which Elliott strongly denies. During cross-examination, Whitelaw later said he “would accept” the affair never took place.Whitelaw said he believed the dirt file to be part of normal factional warfare at the time, but now accepts it was likely prepared to benefit the interests of Nassif.Whitelaw said that while working in MP Anthony Roberts’s office, then chief of staff Chris Spence provided former fair trading minister Eleni Petinos with a video of former building commissioner David Chandler that was damaging to his career, with the goal of using the information during a budget estimates hearing.Whitelaw said Spence was “frustrated” that Petinos “f---ed up” and the video was never used.Whitelaw recalled Spence saying words to the effect of “we’ve just got to get rid of this guy” about Chandler.You can tune in to the live-stream here from 10am.1 of 1