It was a case of one-on-one: Counsel Assisting ICAC Dr Peggy Dwyer asking the questions of Charles Perrottet, brother of former Premier and BP executive with a passion for politics.
Perrottet was the sole witness during the sixth week of the Independent Commission Against Corruption’s Operation Rosny inquiry, and it was more forensic duel than standard hearing.
For four days in the ICAC witness box, Liberal right-faction powerbroker Charles Perrottet found himself cornered in a trap of his own making, systematically dismantled by Dwyer. What was supposed to be a defence of “legitimate, unwritten greyhound consulting” quickly dissolved. Dwyer did not just ask questions; she laid a series of trapdoors using Perrottet’s own WhatsApp logs, photos of cash-filled envelopes, and covert audio recordings.
Perrottet eventually admitted to a web of fabrications. When confronted by Dwyer with texts to developer Jean Nassif claiming he had influenced stopping the regulatory audit of one development, Perrottet repeatedly confessed he was “lying” and “humouring” the developer to keep Nassif’s lucrative retainers flowing to his associates.
Dwyer’s most devastating blows targeted the financial channel allegedly used to siphon these developer funds. She forced Perrottet to explain how his wife Anita’s firm, Macquarie Consulting, collected over $347,000 originating from Nassif for unwritten verbal advice, despite her having no planning expertise.
Dwyer extracted the admission that Charles copied complex planning emails from Nassif’s associates and dictated them to his wife to send in her own name: all while the payments went completely undeclared in his personal tax returns.
Two witnesses are scheduled to appear this week: lobbyist Jeremy Greenwood and former Strathfield Labor councillor Sharangan Maheswaran. The inquiry will end the following week, with fugitive developer Jean Nassif scheduled to give evidence via video link on September 14, after cancelling his scheduled appearance last week due to illness.
ICAC has made no findings in Operation Rosny. All individuals named are the subject of allegations being examined at a public inquiry.
The five quotes of the week
1: The political reality check
Confronted by Counsel Assisting Dr Peggy Dwyer about his habit of fabricating stories of high-level government intervention to keep property developer Jean Nassif paying Beckington's lucrative retainers, Charles Perrottet offered this remarkably candid defence of political spin:
"Look, in politics sometimes, you know, you say things to people that aren't 100% the truth."
2: The political flavour confession
Under oath, Perrottet admitted his elaborate updates to Nassif regarding the faction's local preselection numbers were purposefully designed to trick the developer into believing his funds were directly buying local political control:
"I would add political flavour to the communications that I would put back to Jean, to give him a view that the right was on the ascendency, in, in, in the Hills area. That’s, that’s what I did."
3: Pure fabrication
In one of the most devastating sequences of the hearing, Perrottet was forced to admit that his written text to Jean Nassif claiming he had personally intervened to halt a department inspection of the defect-plagued Skyview towers was utterly fabricated:
Dr Dwyer: “Who was your contact in the department?”
Mr Perrottet: “I made that up.”
Dr Dwyer: “You say that the department was going to issue another inspection of Skyview but you stopped that from happening... Just another lie, is that right?”
Mr Perrottet: “Yes.”
4: The branch stacking boast
Played to the Commission on September 3, this legally intercepted call from September 2021 captured developer Jean Nassif vulgarising his campaign to destroy David Elliott's political base, and Jean-Claude Perrottet’s response:
Jean Nassif: "I f—ked him sideways ... I forced the boys to get rid of his branch at Baulkham Hills and I sent Castle Hill hundreds of new members."
Jean-Claude Perrottet: "I appreciate all the support for the family, as well, Jean. It’s making a difference, the work you’re doing."
5: The best friend boast
Also played to the Commission on Septermber 3, having been recorded on October 6, 2021 (the day after Dominic Perrottet was announced as Premier) this intercept captured Nassif bragging to Jean-Claude Perrottet that he now held the levers of state power in his pocket:
"The Premier is my best friend. You don’t have issues anywhere. The Fair Trading Minister and everybody thinks I’m selecting them now. They’re my friends and my boys... I've got my hands on state government and you're going to see changes."
And one extra one for good measure …
The official record:
Assistant Commissioner Fabian Gleeson SC made this explicit, legally significant declaration to formally insulate the former Premier and the former Minister from any allegations of wrongdoing:
”I’ll just indicate for the transcript that neither Ms Eleni Petinos nor Dominic Perrottet is a person of interest in this inquiry."
Operation Rosny involves allegations concerning people associated with the NSW Liberal Party, Catholic Schools NSW CEO Dallas McInerney, property developer Jean Nassif, hotelier Michael O’Hara, Strathfield councillors and others. To read the allegations in full, go to the dedicated ICAC Operation Rosny page
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