Mittagong Libs boss faces ICAC scrutiny over alleged factional funding
Operation Rosny: Week 2 unpacked
The Independent Commission Against Corruption’s Operation Rosny inquiry enters a critical new phase on Monday, with two prominent figures set to face two days of intense questioning each.
Catholic Schools NSW CEO and Mittagong Liberal Branch president Dallas McInerney and JPG Advisory director Jeremy Greenwood will appear as the inquiry turns its attention to the political machinery operating across the Southern Highlands and beyond.
McInerney’s evidence will be closely watched. ICAC is investigating alleged illegal political donations and branch-stacking, spearheaded by the Reformers, a conservative Christian faction among the NSW Liberals. Most notable, for McInerney, that more than $265,000 in Catholic Schools NSW public affairs funds was funnelled into a factional fund used to pay political operatives.
McInerney has temporarily stepped aside from his day-to-day responsibilities at Catholic Schools NSW while the inquiry proceeds. He remains president of the Mittagong Liberal branch.
The hearings follow an explosive second week in which Operation Rosny moved from broad questions of political influence into the mechanics of the alleged operation: branch stacking, shared state-level database credentials and frantic back-channel communications.
Who said what on Week 2 of Operation Rosny
Robert Assaf:
Aligned messaging pressure: Admitted meeting Jeremy Greenwood multiple times in 2026 - including at a Belfield café and on a walk along the Cooks River with electronics hidden in the car - to coordinate and align their stories before giving evidence to ICAC.
Slush fund coaching: Confirmed Greenwood laughed and warned that Jean-Claude Perrottet was in “trouble” for admitting O’Hara’s money was for “factional work,” advising him that he needed a “much better answer” than the truth.
Systemic factional intimidation: Admitted he was branded a “rat” with emoji spam by co-conspirators in 2023 when he wanted to cooperate with a parliamentary inquiry, and felt intimidated by private investigators allegedly hired by developer Jean Nassif.
Frits Maré:
Assisting the Commission: The retired engineering managing director, who is not a person of interest or accused of any corrupt conduct, testified solely to assist the inquiry.
The stacking cash pitch: Testified that Christian Ellis and Jean-Claude Perrottet pitched a $50,000 “call centre” in May 2020 to stack branches and recruit enough members to unseat federal MP Alex Hawke.
Suspected personal enrichment: Confirmed he rejected the pitch and later received an email warning from Northern Beaches Councillor Vincent De Luca suspecting the cash was actually to “supplement their incomes”.
Damien Tudehope:
No wrongdoing alleged: The Upper House MP and former Finance Minister, who is not accused of corrupt conduct, provided evidence regarding his relationships with the key players.
O’Hara introduction brokered: Admitted introducing hotelier Michael O’Hara to Christian Ellis at his home in May 2018, opening the door to $165,000 in total factional funding.
Shared database credentials: Acknowledged providing his state-level Liberal Party 2FA credentials and login details to Jean-Claude Perrottet on roughly 16 occasions during the 2022 renewal season. He also admitted to leaking a confidential draft report from a 2023 parliamentary inquiry to Greenwood.
Whistleblower staffer warnings: Confirmed his son James Tudehope, then PR Director at Catholic Schools NSW, complained twice to him at Sunday lunches about being pressured by Christian Ellis to process Beckington invoices when they were “not getting value for money”.
Jean-Claude Perrottet:
On-the-clock political operations: Admitted conducting extensive, targeted factional recruitment and member renewals during his paid hours as an electorate and ministerial staffer in 2018 and 2019.
Slush fund diversion: Admitted personally intervening to “save” the O’Hara retainer in September 2021, bypassing Beckington to route $80,000 directly to his personal sole-tradership, “JCP Marketing,” despite providing no marketing services.
Summons evasion flight: Conceded he deliberately fled to Fiji in early 2023 to evade a parliamentary inquiry summons, during which Jeremy Greenwood sent him a leaked confidential draft of the inquiry’s report.
ICAC has made no findings in Operation Scandi. All individuals named are the subject of allegations being examined at a public inquiry.
The ICAC is investigating allegations concerning people associated with the Liberal Party of Australia (NSW Division), the CEO of Catholic Schools NSW Dallas McInerney, property developer Jean Nassif, hotelier Michael O’Hara, certain Strathfield councillors and others. To read the allegations in full, go to the dedicated ICAC Operation Rosny page
