The Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) inquiry, dubbed Operation Rosny, is approaching its halfway point, with recent proceedings highlighting allegations of memory lapses, fake invoices, and a reprimand for a key witness. The inquiry is investigating alleged illicit political donations and branch-stacking within the Liberal Party in New South Wales, with implications for the Catholic education sector.
Dallas McInerney, the Chief Executive of Catholic Schools NSW, who has stood aside for the duration of the inquiry, has been a central figure in recent hearings. He was scheduled to provide evidence for at least two days. The inquiry has focused on allegations that Catholic Schools NSW made undeclared political donations exceeding legal caps under a scheme McInerney allegedly authorised.
A significant line of questioning concerned payments totalling $130,900 made by Catholic Schools NSW to a lobbying firm named Beckington over two years from mid-2019. Counsel assisting the inquiry, Juliet Curtin, stated that there appeared to be “little or no evidence of substantive work being done to justify that amount”. During his testimony, McInerney was pressed on whether a body of work by Beckington was provided, with former premier Dominic Perrottet having reportedly vouched for it.
In a notable intervention, Commissioner Fabian Gleeson instructed Mr McInerney to be specific when explaining why the $130,000 was paid despite a lack of clear deliverables. Commissioner Gleeson asked, “What represents this body of work in terms of a tangible item such as a piece of paper, an email, a text message, a WhatsApp message or whatever it?”. McInerney has denied any wrongdoing across his two days of evidence. The inquiry heard that McInerney, who was the only CEO of Catholic Schools NSW since its founding in 2017, was a Liberal Party member until June this year and president of the Mittagong branch. He admitted to being “mostly” supportive of the goals of the conservative Christian group, the Reformers, and providing advice on how Beckington could pitch to Catholic Schools NSW.
Further evidence presented to the inquiry included testimony from Jeremy Greenwood, another person of interest. Mr Greenwood told ICAC he paid for Jean-Claude Perrottet to fly to Fiji in 2023 to avoid a summons and arranged for a security guard to frustrate attempts to serve him. He also stated that he replied “Wtf. Go to Brisbane” when McInerney messaged him about receiving a letter from a parliamentary inquiry, though he claimed he might have been joking.
Hotelier Michael O’Hara also admitted to an arrangement where Beckington received payments for “factional work” after issuing fake invoices for consulting advice, though he disputed whether these payments constituted political donations. Federal Education Minister Jason Clare has labelled the allegations aired in the corruption hearing as “very concerning”.
The inquiry is set to continue, with Dallas McInerney expected to provide further evidence next week as Operation Rosny progresses towards its conclusion. Readers seeking more details are encouraged to refer to the original reporting by ABC News.