ICAC Hearings: Charles Perrottet's Shifting Account and the Alleged $2 Million Donation

Charles Perrottet, brother of former NSW premier Dominic Perrottet, began giving evidence to the Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) on Friday August 28, 2026. He told the hearing he met fugitive developer Jean Nassif in December 2019 and provided him advice on progressing his developments over several years The Guardian.

ICAC is NSW's anti-corruption watchdog, with the power to hold public hearings and make findings of corrupt conduct. Perrottet told the commission he was paid for his advice not directly, but through payments to his wife, Anita Perrottet. He said he declined to be paid himself because he held a full-time role as head of strategy at BP. According to his evidence, Jeremy Greenwood, one of the Liberal-aligned conservative men known as the Reformers, offered to share in their success. Charles said they could continue to pay Anita instead of paying him The Guardian.

ICAC is investigating whether Nassif paid $2 million in an undeclared political donation to the Reformers, a group including Greenwood and Christian Ellis. The inquiry, named Operation Rosny, is examining possible offences under the Electoral Funding Act and other matters. ICAC announced it would hold a public inquiry commencing on 27 July 2026 ICAC NSW. Its investigation covers whether Charles Perrottet solicited or accepted political donations ICAC NSW.

The relationship between Perrottet and Nassif was partly shaped by shared factional grievances. Perrottet told the commission the two bonded over frustrations with David Elliott, the former member for Baulkham Hills and a key figure in the rival centre-right faction of the NSW Liberals. Perrottet said he was angry about Elliott's attempts to unseat his brother Dominic and was looking for information on Elliott The Guardian.

Perrottet's account to the commission on August 28 sits in tension with his earlier evidence. In a transcript dated August 24, Perrottet indicated he had nothing to do with Toplace, Nassif's development company, or Jean Nassif himself until the parliamentary inquiry ICAC NSW transcript. His August 28 testimony, by contrast, describes a multi-year advisory relationship beginning in late 2019.

The ICAC saga traces back to the dismissal of the Hills Shire council and a late-night 2022 speech in NSW parliament alleging secret payments from a developer. Operation Rosny has since broadened considerably. The investigation has allegedly covered a pressure campaign to remove the then NSW building commissioner and has involved reviewing phone records, text messages, WhatsApp messages, mobile phone tower information, bank records, computers, tax returns and flight records The Guardian.

Anita Perrottet, sister-in-law of the former premier, entered the witness box as ICAC widened its inquiry into alleged corruption Weekly Times Now. Her evidence follows that of her husband, who had himself been reluctant to appear before earlier proceedings. Charles Perrottet stayed in Fiji to avoid a summons to appear at the parliamentary inquiry, according to an Operation Rosny transcript ICAC NSW transcript. By the time of that parliamentary inquiry, he had relocated to Melbourne, per ICAC's opening address ICAC NSW opening address.

One structural detail in Perrottet's evidence carries weight beyond the specific allegations. Perrottet is not a registered lobbyist and does not appear in ministerial diaries, because meetings on political matters with ministers do not have to be disclosed The Guardian. This disclosure exemption means his advisory work for Nassif, and any resulting access to government figures, would not have been visible through standard transparency mechanisms.

The broader context here is the intersection of factional politics, developer influence, and electoral funding law in NSW's Liberal Party. The Reformers, the Hills Shire council dismissal, the alleged pressure on the building commissioner, and the routing of payments through a family member rather than directly to a politically connected adviser all feed into a single investigative thread. ICAC's evidence-gathering has been extensive, spanning telecommunications data, financial records, and travel movements. Charles Perrottet's testimony, with its shift from denying any connection to Nassif to acknowledging years of advisory work compensated through his wife, will likely shape the direction of the inquiry's remaining public hearings.

What remains unresolved is whether the payments to Anita Perrottet can be linked to the alleged $2 million undeclared donation at the centre of Operation Rosny, and whether Charles Perrottet's advisory relationship with Nassif facilitated any improper access to NSW government decision-making. The commission has not yet reported its findings.