What's Going On at the ICAC Inquiry Into the NSW Liberal Party?
The head of Catholic Schools NSW, Dallas McInerney, told a corruption inquiry on 13 August 2026 that he never asked federal opposition leader Angus Taylor for money to support a conservative group within the NSW Liberal Party called the Reformers. McInerney was questioned about a March 2021 message he sent to a Reformer named Robert Assaf in which he wrote: "I want to shake down Angus for 10k." The Guardian
The inquiry is run by ICAC, which stands for the Independent Commission Against Corruption. It is a government body in New South Wales that investigates possible corruption involving public officials and public money.
McInerney told the inquiry that by "shake down" he meant asking for help at a breakfast meeting with NSW Liberal ministers and a separate conversation with Taylor. He said any money discussed would have paid for things like printing brochures and posting mail for upcoming internal Liberal Party elections, not for the Reformers as a group. He said that after meeting Taylor, he had general support for the faction's internal elections, but he could not remember whether Taylor had agreed to give a one-off $15,000 or an ongoing $3,000 each month.
The problem is that a message sent days later by a Reformers associate named Dylan Whitelaw told faction members: "Dallas has told me he got the commitment from Angus, the 15k injection plus a 3k monthly donation!" The Guardian
McInerney told the inquiry that Whitelaw may have "lied" and boasted. When Whitelaw gave his own evidence to the inquiry last month, he said he did not remember sending the messages and did not remember Taylor giving money to the Reformers.
The only senior Liberal McInerney could recall giving money directly to the Reformers was the late former federal vice-president Teena McQueen, who died in June. An ICAC transcript from 6 August 2026 discusses an exchange suggesting McQueen gave money to the Reformers, first routing it through McInerney. ICAC
Taylor has not been named in ICAC's allegations and has repeatedly said he never made payments to the Reformers. One of his staff members, Kane Silom, criticised Ten journalist Ashleigh Raper after she asked Taylor whether he had spoken with McInerney about sending money to the faction. The Guardian
The investigation, called Operation Rosny, looks at what the Reformers did inside the NSW Liberal Party. A document from around the time the faction was created proposed recruiting 5,000 Christian conservatives to join NSW Liberal branches so the faction could take control of the party in that state. McInerney admitted he first learned about the Reformers' recruitment events in late 2018 and 2019 and said he was "mostly" supportive of their goals. The case became a full ICAC investigation on 25 October 2022, and the public inquiry has been hearing evidence since 27 July 2026. ICAC
ICAC publishes transcripts of each day's hearings on its website, usually within 24 hours, unless a court order blocks the release of certain evidence. Transcripts from 4, 5, 6 and 12 August 2026 are available. They cover testimony from several witnesses, including McInerney, whose evidence has been part of the inquiry since 11 May 2026. The 12 August transcript mentions evidence about a Mr Ellis who, with someone named Beckington, wanted to train young conservatives. The same afternoon session discusses a letter McInerney received from the chair of a parliamentary inquiry. ICAC An exhibit list updated on 13 August 2026 includes Exhibit E22/1018/EXH-0406, an excerpt of a phone call involving Jean Nassif dated 1 September 2021. ICAC
The broader context here is that this case brings together three things at once: factional politics (groups within a party competing for control), electoral funding law (rules about how political spending must be reported), and oversight by an anti-corruption body. McInerney holds two roles that make his testimony especially important: he runs Catholic Schools NSW and he is also an active participant in Liberal Party factional activity. His denials set written messages against his spoken evidence under oath, and Whitelaw's message from the time is a written record that neither man now fully remembers or supports. The $15,000 and $3,000 monthly amounts in Whitelaw's text, if confirmed, could raise questions about whether spending on internal party elections breaks the electoral funding laws ICAC is examining. Taylor's position as federal opposition leader raises the stakes further, though he is not part of ICAC's formal allegations.
What is still not settled is whether Taylor actually committed any money, and if he did, whether it was for internal election costs or for the Reformers as an organisation. McInerney cannot recall the details, Whitelaw does not remember sending the messages, and Taylor firmly denies everything. That leaves the written evidence standing largely on its own, without anyone confirming it from the witness stand. When ICAC delivers its findings, it will need to decide whether it can fill these gaps or whether the paper trail is enough on its own.
