Second Liberal frontbencher called to ICAC

A second Liberal frontbencher has received a summons to provide evidence to the anti-corruption watchdog’s bombshell investigation into allegations senior Liberal figures took illegal donations from fugitive property developer Jean Nassif in exchange for political favours.

Eleni Petinos, the shadow minister for jobs and industry, received a summons to appear at the Independent Commission Against Corruption inquiry in the coming weeks.

Petinos, who is on maternity leave, would be the second member of NSW Opposition Leader Kellie Sloane’s frontbench to give evidence to the inquiry after shadow attorney-general Damien Tudehope appeared this week.

Petinos was not named as a person of interest by the ICAC. However, her involvement in the resignation of former NSW building commissioner David Chandler is likely to be a key focus of the inquiry. She was not included on the list of witnesses to appear at the inquiry next week.

The ICAC has previously heard that Nassif paid significant funds to a group of Liberal Party apparatchiks, in part to seek Chandler’s removal.

They include one of the then-premier’s brothers, Charles Perrottet, and two other men: Christian Ellis and Jeremy Greenwood.

In phone taps played to the commission, Nassif bragged to a developer associate that he had “hands on the state government” and would “step on [the] neck” of Chandler by having “one of my girls” appointed fair trading minister.

Two months after the recorded call, Petinos replaced Kevin Anderson as fair trading minister in a reshuffle.

By July 2022, Chandler had resigned as NSW building commissioner after an investigation into his conduct ordered by Petinos’ office.

In her opening address to the commission, counsel assisting Dr Peggy Dwyer, SC, said: “Over the course of this public inquiry the commission will examine whether Mr Nassif’s predictions to his associate were an incidence of wishful thinking that serendipitously came to pass, or whether Mr Chandler’s resignation was, in fact, the result of work Mr Nassif had paid Charles Perrottet, Mr Greenwood and others to do for him.”

Dwyer said she anticipated the inquiry would hear evidence Charles Perrottet sought assistance from both Petinos and Christopher Spence, then the chief of staff to planning minister Anthony Roberts, in seeking Chandler’s removal.

Neither Petinos nor Spence have been named as persons of interest in the inquiry.

Petinos did not respond to a request for comment. However, senior party sources familiar with the December 2021 reshuffle told The Sydney Morning Herald that Petinos had not requested the fair trading portfolio.

Charles Perrottet was involved in internal factional discussions about the reshuffle at the time, two Liberal Party sources said.

Sloane has previously said she would not be commenting on Petinos’ potential involvement in the ICAC inquiry.

Tudehope stood down from the frontbench ahead of his appearance, citing his “close relationships” with several of the people at the centre of the probe. He is not a focus of the inquiry but this week he conceded that he leaked a confidential draft report from a parliamentary inquiry to a key witness who deliberately avoided giving evidence to a parliamentary inquiry into illegal donations and the Hills Shire Council.

The commission has previously heard evidence from Dylan Whitelaw, a NSW Reformers member who worked in Roberts’ office, that Spence had wanted to “get rid” of Chandler.

Whitelaw told the commission Spence had wanted Petinos to raise a video of Chandler during a budget estimates hearing, with the goal of damaging his career.

The video, Whitelaw said, allegedly included the imputation Chandler was “racist” and included a reference to a list of building certifiers and developers he had given to banks.

“I believe his [Spence’s] words were something to the effect of ‘we’ve just got to get rid of this guy’,” Whitelaw said.

He told the commission that Spence and Petinos were “close” but did not know why she would want to have Chandler dismissed. Whitelaw said Spence later complained that Petinos had “f—ed it up” by not raising the video in her budget estimates appearance.

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