Defiance, then tears: Alyssa White's dramatic final day in the ICAC witness box
'I felt very desperate ... I didn't think through my actions'
On her third day in the ICAC witness box, former University of Wollongong governance chief Alyssa White presented two vastly different versions of herself: defiant fighter and tearful confessor.
When questioned about multi-million dollar executive contracts tied to former chancellor Michael Still on Friday morning, she went on the attack.
“I disagree that it was undermined from my behaviour. It’s clear that it was undermined by Matthew Wright’s behaviour earlier in this commission,” Ms White testified.
When pressed on exactly what she meant, she escalated the attack, stating: “He shared data with Professor Dewar during this time as the probity officer.”
But when questioned over her own personal plans by Counsel Assisting Emma Bathurst and Commissioner Paul Lakatos, she broke.
In a fiery morning session, Ms Bathurst exposed the paper trail surrounding a $300,000 consulting tender awarded to KordaMentha. When Ms Bathurst accused Ms White of intentionally designing a “limited pool” tender specifically so KordaMentha would win, Ms White rejected the assertion.
Instead, she claimed the process was undermined by UOW probity officer Matthew Wright. This deflection prompted Ms Bathurst to explicitly accuse the former governance chief of giving “false evidence”.
Ms White’s defiance continued when grilled over nearly $80,000 in un-tendered consulting contracts awarded to Aspirall. Despite being shown emails where her own staff explicitly warned her she was breaching the university’s $20,000 procurement limit, Ms White dismissed the breach as an “honest mistake” because she was “very busy”.
However, by late afternoon, the defiant fighter vanished as Ms Bathurst and Commissioner Lakatos deliberately closed the net around her. Ms Bathurst relentlessly pinned Ms White on her own ambitions, unearthing evidence that she had designed a new "vice president strategy and executive affairs" role with a $388,000 remuneration package.
While text messages revealed she referred to the unadvertised position as "my role" and she admitted to authoring the official paper recommending she receive a "direct appointment", Ms White fiercely denied trying to manipulate the executives. She claimed she only drafted the paperwork because the incoming vice-chancellor assured her the job was hers, explicitly rejecting assertions that she could influence "seasoned, experienced businessmen" like the chancellor.
Ms Bathurst also produced texts showing Ms White sharing highly confidential university intelligence - including internal KordaMentha slides and the names of competing candidates - with Stephen Phillips, a former colleague applying for a different executive role. Ms White finally folded, admitting she had “significantly advantaged and benefited” his application.
After Ms Bathurst’s relentless questioning, the public inquiry reached a dramatic climax when Commissioner Lakatos directly intervened.
‘Finger on the scales’
He systematically walked Ms White through the total collapse of her professional duties, asking if she accepted that she had placed her “finger on the scales” to create an “unfair and opaque” process. He pressed her on whether she knew her actions would “corrode rather than improve the culture” of the university she claimed to be trying to fix.
Ms White answered “Yes, Commissioner”.
Having secured admissions, Commissioner Lakatos offered a final, devastating invitation: “In those circumstances, the floor is yours. Can you tell me why you did it?”.
Ms White broke down.
“I felt very desperate to not only secure staff, but staff that would be able to work well together, and staff that would be able to work in the environment that I could see that was in place at the university,” Ms White said through tears. “I didn’t think through my actions.”
After a private session when the livestream was closed down, Ms White was cross-examined by Mr Still’s barrister, Amelia Avery-Williams, and her own counsel Peter O’Brien, before the inquiry was adjourned.
What’s next?
Counsel Assisting Emma Bathurst will prepare written submissions outlining the evidence and suggesting any proposed findings of corrupt conduct.
Those subject to any adverse propositions (such as Ms White and Mr Still) will be provided these submissions privately and given an opportunity to submit written responses and legal defenses.
Commissioner Paul Lakatos will hand down his final, public report to the NSW Parliament. This document will detail any formal findings of serious corrupt conduct and outline recommendations, including whether the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) should consider criminal charges against any involved individuals.
ICAC has made no findings in Operation Scandi. All named individuals are the subject of allegations at a public inquiry.
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