NSW Liberal Party: How ICAC hearing could bring down Federal Opposition Leader Angus Taylor
How the fallout from an investigation into Liberal Party donations by NSW’s corruption commission could sink his leadership — just ask his predecessors.
An anti-corruption body that destroyed three NSW Liberal premiers could potentially bring down Federal Opposition Leader Angus Taylor even if he is found to have done nothing illegal.
An ugly dispute between Liberal Party’s Centre Right and Right factions is set to play out in a public hearing of the Independent Commission Against Corruption from July 27, examining illegal political donations and branch stacking.
Even if Mr Taylor isn’t implicated in any corruption, and there is no suggestion that he is, the political optics could potentially sink him given the Coalition’s already-disastrous polling numbers having it trailing One Nation.
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By continuing you agree to our Terms and Privacy Policy.ICAC’s previous scalps, in vastly different circumstances, were Liberal premiers — Nick Greiner, Barry O’Farrell and Gladys Berejiklian — who would never go on to face criminal charges, but the political damage was done.
A government job for a former minister, a 1959 bottle of Grange Hermitage and a secret boyfriend knocked them out in 1992, 2014 and 2021.
A loose association with the wrong crowd could make Mr Taylor the fourth Liberal leader to be brought down since ICAC was established in 1988, if eight weeks of evidence destroys his political standing.
A senior Liberal Party member from Mr Taylor’s home State said the ICAC hearing was likely to seriously damage the Federal Opposition Leader, if it makes adverse findings, for being too closely associated with certain people from his Right faction.
“Oh, yes, totally, totally. I mean just the judgment in the people he’s put around him,” this source told The Nightly on Friday.
“That’s always the question: even if he’s not guilty, if adverse findings are made, why did you associate with such people?
“If some of those witnesses tell the ICAC what they know — I’m not saying that he actually did do anything wrong, I think he’s quite scrupulous about money — and adverse findings are made, the problem is he will be associated with some very bad people.”
ICAC’s Operation Rosny is also investigating whether Dallas McInerney as the chief executive of Catholic Schools NSW made illegal political donations that were not declared and exceeded donation caps.
“He’s going to have to defend that,” the Liberal source said.
Operatives from Mr Taylor’s Right faction in NSW are accused of soliciting or accepting illegal political donations between 2019 and 2023, with former NSW premier Dominic Perrottet’s brother Jean-Claude Perrottet named in an ICAC statement.
The inquiry will also examine whether property developer Jean Nassif sought to stop former NSW police minister David Elliott, from the party’s Centre Right faction, from winning Liberal pre-selection for the Sydney Hills District seat of Castle Hill after his nearby electorate of Baulkham Hills was abolished in an electoral redistribution ahead of the 2023 election.
Property developers in NSW are banned from making political donations.
There is no suggestion that Mr McInerney , Mr Perrottet or Mr Nassif are guilty of doing anything wrong . ICAC will consider these matters and deliver its findings.
Mr Elliott earlier this month savaged the Liberals in a 2GB radio interview and a column for The Daily Telegraph for failing to expel accused operatives from the Right faction.
“The hard right . . . look what they did to me,” Mr Elliott told The Nightly.
When asked about Mr Taylor’s leadership, Mr Elliott hinted at new evidence emerging at ICAC.
“There have been significant developments which I’m delighted about, absolutely thrilled,” he said.
“I’m certainly not going to get dragged into another fight about factions.”
Factional disputes have long plagued the Liberal Party, especially when Federal leaders have hailed from NSW.
Mr Taylor became the Liberal Party’s Federal leader in February, after he had succeeded his predecessor Sussan Ley from the party’s Centre Right faction, who lasted just nine months in the job.
Unlike the downfall of three Liberal premiers, this new potential ICAC scalp would expose deep hatreds and shenanigans in a party that can’t govern itself.
No side of politics can ever win government at a national level without winning in NSW.
