Opposition Leader Angus Taylor denies ever giving money to a conservative Christian group which is under investigation by the New South Wales corruption watchdog over alleged Liberal party branch stacking and donation breaches.
Mr Taylor has again stressed he is “not a party to the proceedings”, while fellow Liberals have sidestepped questions about the inquiry by insisting the Independent Commission Against Corruption should be left to do its work.
The Opposition Leader was dragged into the investigation on Tuesday when the ICAC was shown old text messages referencing Mr Taylor’s apparent agreement to give large donations to a group known as the NSW Reformers.
The Reformers — a right-wing group that included former Liberal staffer Dylan Whitelaw, had dealings with Mr Taylor through Catholic Schools NSW boss Dallas McInerney, who is now a subject of the ICAC probe.
During Tuesday’s ICAC hearing, Mr Whitelaw was shown a 2021 message sent from lobbyist Robert Assaf to a group chat including key figures being investigated by the corruption probe.
The screenshot was of a message exchange between Mr McInerney and Mr Assaf, which referenced potential donations from Angus Taylor, who was then serving as a minister in the Morrison government.
“I have breakfast club with ministers this Thursday morning, who can I get an update from? Re SCD (State council delegate) progress in the last six to 12 months. I want to shake down Angus for 10k,” the message, read aloud at the inquiry, allegedly said.
Mr Whitelaw was shown another message, from days later, in which he allegedly wrote: “Dallas has told me he got the commitment from Angus, the 15k injection plus a 3k monthly donation!”
ICAC was told Catholic Schools NSW had engaged Beckington, a lobbying firm owned by right-wing Liberal Party powerbroker Christian Ellis who used their client’s funding to finance the activities of the Reformers to recruit stacks to Liberal Party branches and pay for their membership.
Under repeated questioning by reporters on Wednesday, Mr Taylor denied five times he had made any payment to the Reformers.
“No payment was made,” he insisted during a visit to Hervey Bay in Queensland.
Asked if he disputed the text messages seen by the inquiry, he said he was “not a party to proceedings” and would not be giving a “running commentary”.
“I’ll let the commission do its job,” Mr Taylor told reporters.
Mr Taylor again declared he has not been approached by the commission and would not entertain “hypotheticals” about giving evidence.
The Opposition Leader did not answer when asked if he was aware of the group, or knew they were aiming to stack Liberal branches.
He also did not answer when questioned over whether he had ever been asked to give money to the Reformers.
Shadow treasurer Tim Wilson on Wednesday told News24 he had no knowledge of the case, insisting ICAC “should be left to do their job”, while fellow frontbencher Dan Tehan said politicians should “let ICAC do its job”, when questioned by the ABC.
On Wednesday, Mr Whitelaw again appeared before ICAC where he was questioned about a “shit sheet” created by Liberal Party operatives to damage the career of former NSW police minister David Elliott, including claims he had an affair.
During his second day of evidence, the former Liberal staffer was questioned about the document containing a list of political and personal allegations about the Baulkham Hills MP, and efforts to remove the building commissioner David Chandler.
Under cross-examination by David Elliott’s lawyer Bruce Levet, Mr Whitelaw accepted the contention that an affair involving the police minister never took place.
“I suggest to you that no photograph exists of him leaving the residence of another woman. What would you say about that?” Mr Levet asked.
“I’m unaware of any specific photo. No one ever showed me,” Mr Whitelaw responded.
Mr Levet went on to suggest to Mr Whitelaw that no such affair ever took place to which he responded: “I would accept that”.
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