A major anti-corruption inquiry in New South Wales started on 27 July 2026. The state's corruption watchdog, known as ICAC, is looking into whether a group inside the NSW Liberal Party called the 'Reformers' broke election funding laws. The commission's lawyer, Peggy Dwyer SC, said the group may have taken donations from people who are banned from giving, or accepted more money than the law allows, to pay for signing up and renewing party members. The investigation, officially called E22/1018, is set to run for eight weeks of public hearings (ICAC).

On the second day, 28 July 2026, the inquiry heard that federal opposition leader Angus Taylor was discussed as a possible financial backer of the Reformers. A message from March 2021, sent by Dallas McInerney, who runs Catholic Schools NSW and is a factional ally of Taylor, was shown to the commission. It talked about 'shaking down Angus for 10k' in connection with Reformers activity. Another message, said to be from former Liberal staffer Dylan Whitelaw, claimed McInerney had secured a promise from Taylor of a '$15k injection plus a $3k monthly donation' (The Guardian).

Whitelaw gave evidence on 28 July 2026. He said he assumed 'Angus' referred to the federal opposition leader. But he also said he could not remember sending the messages about Taylor's donations and would be 'very surprised' if Taylor had given any money. Whitelaw told the commission that Taylor knew about the Reformers' activities, but 'not in much detail' (The Guardian).

A spokesperson for Angus Taylor said the opposition leader was 'not a party to the matters before the commission, nor has he been approached' (The Guardian). ABC News also reported that NSW Liberal figures had discussed asking Taylor for financial backing for the right-wing faction during the period being examined (ABC News).

Dallas McInerney offered to step aside from his job at Catholic Schools NSW ahead of the hearings, as reported by the Sydney Morning Herald on 2 July 2026. Hotelier Michael O'Hara, who is banned from making political donations under NSW law, finished giving his evidence on the morning of 28 July 2026 (The Guardian).

The hearings also brought up separate claims by Jean Nassif, a figure who says he had influence over the NSW Liberal Party. NSW Opposition Leader Kellie Sloane spoke publicly about the so-called 'Nassif ICAC tapes' in relation to the proceedings. A complaint from a person called 'Mr Blackmore' was also added to Operation Rosny because the conduct he described was similar to what ICAC was already investigating (Daily Telegraph).

The first day of hearings on 27 July 2026 ran in two sessions, from 10:00am to 1:06pm and from 2:15pm to 4:04pm, and produced 108 pages of transcript. ICAC has published a list of exhibits and is uploading daily transcripts to the Operation Rosny webpage (ICAC). The inquiry, listed with an effective date of 1 July 2026, is ongoing.

The broader context here is about how political parties can be taken over from within. In NSW, there are rules about who can donate money to parties and how much they can give. Some people, like property developers, are banned from donating at all. ICAC is looking into whether the Reformers found ways around those rules to bring in money and use it to stack the party's membership rolls with their own supporters. Think of it like a club where a faction secretly pays for new memberships so they can vote in their people for key positions. The fact that a federal opposition leader's name has come up, even through testimony from someone who says he does not remember the messages, makes the stakes much higher. For the federal Coalition, this inquiry ties what happens in NSW factional politics directly to the leadership of the federal party. How Taylor and his office respond, and whether the commission calls him or McInerney for further evidence, will be closely watched over the eight weeks ahead.