Inside Operation Rosny: What the ICAC Inquiry Heard About Liberal Faction Funding
Dallas McInerney, the chief executive of Catholic Schools NSW, told a NSW anti-corruption inquiry on 13 August 2026 that he never asked federal opposition leader Angus Taylor for money directed to the Reformers, a conservative faction within the NSW Liberal Party. McInerney's testimony addressed a March 2021 message he shared with Reformer Robert Assaf in which he wrote: "I want to shake down Angus for 10k." The Guardian
McInerney told the inquiry — the Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC), New South Wales's watchdog agency for investigating public-sector corruption — that the "shake down" reference concerned a breakfast meeting with NSW Liberal ministers and a separate approach to Taylor. He said any funds discussed would have supported upcoming internal Liberal Party elections, covering costs like printing brochures, pamphlets, postage and mailouts, not the Reformers as an organisation. He said he left his meeting with Taylor with in-principle support for the conservative faction's internal elections, though he could not recall whether Taylor had committed a lump sum of $15,000 or an ongoing $3,000 monthly contribution.
The discrepancy between McInerney's account and the paper trail centres on a message sent by Reformers associate Dylan Whitelaw to faction members days after McInerney's March 2021 text. Whitelaw's message stated: "Dallas has told me he got the commitment from Angus, the 15k injection plus a 3k monthly donation!" The Guardian
McInerney suggested to the inquiry that one explanation for Whitelaw's message was that Whitelaw had "lied" and boasted. When Whitelaw gave evidence last month, he said he did not recall sending the messages and did not recall Taylor making a financial contribution to the Reformers.
The only senior Liberal McInerney could recall contributing 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, in the first instance routing it through McInerney. ICAC
Taylor has not been named in ICAC's allegations and has repeatedly denied ever making payments to the Reformers. One of his staffers, 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
Operation Rosny examines the Reformers' activities within the NSW Liberal Party. A document drafted around the faction's inception proposed recruiting 5,000 Christian conservatives to join NSW Liberal branches to take control of the state division. McInerney admitted he first became aware of the Reformers' recruitment events in late 2018 and 2019 and said he was "mostly" supportive of their goals. The matter was escalated to a full ICAC investigation on 25 October 2022, and the public inquiry has been hearing evidence since 27 July 2026. ICAC
ICAC has been publishing daily transcripts on its website, generally within 24 hours of proceedings, absent suppression orders (court orders that prevent certain evidence from being made public). Transcripts from 4, 5, 6 and 12 August 2026 are available, covering testimony from multiple witnesses including McInerney, whose evidence has been effective from 11 May 2026. The 12 August transcript references evidence given about a Mr Ellis's early goal with Beckington of training young conservatives, and the same day's 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 call involving Jean Nassif dated 1 September 2021. ICAC
The broader context here is that Operation Rosny sits at the intersection of factional politics, electoral funding law, and institutional integrity oversight. McInerney's dual role as head of Catholic Schools NSW and an active participant in Liberal Party factional machinery gives his testimony particular weight. His denials place the credibility of written communications against sworn oral evidence, with Whitelaw's contemporaneous message constituting a documentary record that neither witness now fully recalls or endorses. The $15,000 commitment and $3,000 monthly donation described in Whitelaw's text, if verified, would raise questions about whether factional internal-election spending falls within the scope of the Electoral Funding Act provisions ICAC is investigating. Taylor's status as federal opposition leader amplifies the stakes, though he remains outside ICAC's formal allegations.
What remains unresolved is whether any financial commitment from Taylor materialised, and if so, whether it was directed to internal election logistics or to the Reformers as an organisational entity. McInerney's inability to recall specifics, Whitelaw's failure to recollect sending the messages, and Taylor's categorical denials leave the documentary evidence largely uncorroborated by witness testimony. ICAC's findings, when delivered, will hinge on whether the commission can reconcile these gaps or concludes that the paper trail speaks for itself.
