What's Going On at the NSW Corruption Hearing Involving the Perrottet Family?

Charles Perrottet, brother of former NSW premier Dominic Perrottet, told a corruption watchdog on 31 August 2026 that he would lie to property developer Jean Nassif about delivering political outcomes "to keep him on side" (The Guardian, 31 August 2026).

The watchdog is called ICAC, which stands for the Independent Commission Against Corruption. It investigates possible corruption in NSW government and politics, and it has the power to hold public hearings where witnesses give evidence under oath.

Perrottet's testimony came during the public inquiry phase of Operation Rosny, ICAC's investigation into possible offences under the Electoral Funding Act and other matters, which opened on 27 July 2026 (ICAC media release). The Electoral Funding Act sets rules about who can donate money to political parties in NSW. Property developers are banned from making political donations. He is among three Liberal figures alleged to have anticipated receiving $2 million in prohibited political donations from Nassif. Dominic Perrottet is not named as a person of interest and is not accused of wrongdoing in the matter.

Under questioning from counsel assisting Peggy Dwyer SC, Perrottet acknowledged that he regularly misled Nassif about his own involvement in lobbying work performed by Beckington, a company controlled by Christian Ellis and Jeremy Greenwood, both also named in ICAC's allegations. Lobbying means trying to influence government decisions on behalf of a client. Perrottet said he added his own "political flavour" to messages to Nassif to encourage payments to Beckington for what he characterised as genuine services provided to Nassif's company, Toplace. He denied lying to ICAC itself.

The commission heard a February 2020 message from Perrottet to Ellis about the rival centre-right faction: "It's the money train. They cannot donate, but they get around that in two ways: cash and monthly government affairs retainers … the going rate is $50,000 per month." A retainer is a regular fee paid to someone for ongoing services. Dwyer pressed Perrottet on whether he wanted to replicate that arrangement for his own faction, asking: "You wanted to get on board the money train, didn't you?" Perrottet rejected the suggestion.

A central thread of Perrottet's evidence concerned his motive for engaging with Nassif. He told the commission he advised the developer hoping Nassif would sign a statutory declaration about allegations that the centre-right faction was circumventing electoral funding laws that prohibit property developers from donating. A statutory declaration is a formal written statement signed in front of an authorised person that carries legal weight. The commission heard that Nassif never provided that statutory declaration. Perrottet denied Dwyer's characterisation that his arrangement with Nassif was similar to the one he sought to expose.

The inquiry also examined specific interactions around Toplace's development interests. The commission heard that "189" referred to a Toplace development in Parramatta and "PDU" referred to the NSW Planning Delivery Unit. Perrottet told the hearing he did not have a PDU contact, made no call, and said: "Ultimately, I made it up" when providing an update to Nassif.

At a January 2021 meeting at a Sydney pub with Toplace executive Sharangan Maheswaran, who is named in a separate ICAC allegation, messages suggested Perrottet had collected a cheque for $148,500 for Beckington. Perrottet accepted that he told Nassif the payment was for "assistance for the upcoming preselections" but told the commission it was in fact for genuine lobbying work by Beckington. Preselections are the internal party votes that choose candidates for elections.

Earlier in the Operation Rosny hearings, phone records placed Perrottet in Sydney for a single day, having flown in and out on Virgin flights that same day (ICAC transcript, 28 August 2026). The 4 August hearing included a transcribed voicemail that Perrottet had left with a witness (ICAC transcript, 4 August 2026). On 24 August, the commission was told that at the same time Perrottet sent a video to a witness, he also sent the transcript of Hansard from a Budget Estimates hearing (ICAC transcript, 24 August 2026). Hansard is the official written record of what politicians say in parliament.

Perrottet, a member of the NSW Liberals' conservative right faction, had given evidence on 28 August 2026 as well, when he told the inquiry that Nassif often complained about certain matters (ABC News, 28 August 2026). The same day, Anita Perrottet, sister-in-law of Dominic Perrottet, was asked by the inquiry to explain $660,000 in payments (ABC News, 28 August 2026).

Nassif fled Australia in 2022 and was expected to appear before ICAC via video link from Lebanon on the Friday following the 31 August hearing. The Operation Rosny public inquiry has published transcripts covering sessions from 27 July through 28 August 2026.

The broader context here is a tension at the heart of Operation Rosny. A witness admits deceiving a developer about political access while insisting his underlying services were legitimate, and frames his engagement with that developer as an effort to expose the very type of arrangement ICAC is investigating. Whether that framing holds under further examination will depend on evidence still to come, including Nassif's own testimony from abroad.