Is there a difference between advice and work, when you’re a political operative and large sums of money come your way?
There is, at least in the mind of Charles Perrottet, a brother of the former New South Wales premier Dominic Perrottet and a rightwing Liberal powerbroker who was the star witness at the Independent Commission against Corruption on Monday.
Icac is investigating whether illegal donations were made to the Liberal party in breach of the NSW Electoral Funding Act, including $2m from the fugitive property developer Jean Nassif.
Property developers are banned from donating to political parties in NSW.
Related: Icac lawyer tells Charles Perrottet the key to lying is ‘you have to be really good at remembering it’
In particular Icac is investigating allegations that the Liberal operatives Charles Perrottet, Jeremy Greenwood and Christian Ellis used payments to consulting firms to disguise money that was paid to deliver political outcomes for Nassif, including trying to get rid of the NSW building commissioner (he was investigating Nassif’s buildings) and unseating Liberal councillors (they were opposing Nassif’s developments).
Charles Perrottet may have had a full-time job at BP as a director of strategy, two small children, and a big role as a right faction powerbroker in the NSW Liberal party, but Icac heard in 2020 and 2021 he still found time to give advice to Nassif about how to progress his Toplace developments.
The advice Charles gave was to consulting firm Beckington, in early 2020, run by Greenwood and Ellis, Charles said. Both men were also active in the right of the Liberal party.
Charles told Icac he suggested to Nassif that he use the fast-track process set up by the NSW government in April 2020 to secure approval of his projects during the Covid pandemic.
He also said he recommended that Nassif, who was known as a somewhat volatile, abrasive figure, and whose buildings were not always up to scratch, join the Property Council, the premier lobby group for the construction industry.
This advice was so successful that his friend Greenwood of Beckington offered to share in the success fee of 1% that Nassif had offered, Charles said.
Nassif got at least one of three projects approved – a residential tower at Parramatta.
“And you suggested they pay it to Anita’s consulting firm Macquarie Consulting because she already had a relationship with Beckington?” counsel assisting Peggy Dwyer SC asked.
“Yes,” Charles said. “The advice had been given by me,” he said. “It was not work, I had a job with BP.”
Instead he suggested that Beckington, which had engaged Anita Perrottet, his wife, to provide marketing advice to unrelated clients, get paid, not him.
“They already had a relationship,” he said. “I said, just look after Anita.”
The only problem is the fruits of Anita’s labours for Beckington and later JPG Advisory, a firm controlled by Greenwood, have proved hard to find.
Last week Anita appeared before Icac and gave evidence that she had been paid $254,000 from Beckington and more than $300,000 from JPG Advisory, both associated with Greenwood.
It was for marketing advice she had given in relation to other clients, including Greyhounds NSW, Catholic Cemeteries Trust and a vaping company, she told Icac.
But other than invoices, she was unable to produce a single document or email evidencing this work.
The advice was face-to-face in parks and on her husband’s phone. She was “a sounding board” for Greenwood, she insisted.
“I was paid what I was worth. Jeremy saw me as a huge value-add,” the mother of two and part-time marketer told Icac.
Anita said she had never met or heard of Nassif, although this was later interrogated by Dwyer after she showed Anita texts mentioning “John” (the other name of Jean Nassif) and photos of her children at Nassif’s home.
Earlier this week, Dwyer asked Anita: “Can I suggest to you, you have been put in an impossible situation because you are being asked to lie under oath to cover for your husband?”
“I reject that. I’m not lying,” Anita said.
Charles denied there was anything wrong with money for his advice to Nassif being paid to his wife’s company.
An astounded Dwyer asked: “And that meant that you didn’t pay tax on the money that came into Anita? Macquarie Consulting, in effect, collected money that was due to you for the advice that you gave,” she asked. “Correct,” he said.
“Did you understand at the time, that if you provide services to someone for which you are remunerated by way of income, that that constitutes income which you must disclose in your tax return?” the commissioner Fabian Gleeson SC asked.
“If I was drawing a wage,” responded Charles.
Dwyer took Charles to the invoices and asked why they kept changing, including the way they were set out and that they did not reference the advice Charles was providing.
Related: Charles Perrottet becomes Icac’s main character amid claims of hidden payments and political hit jobs
“Did it occur to you that Anita was in effect obtaining a benefit by deception in setting out the invoices in this way? Did it occur to you that you might be participating in a joint criminal enterprise?” she asked. Charles denied this.
Late in the day, Charles was taken to a text exchange with Ellis, in January 2021 a co-owner of Beckington, in which they discussed the “risks” of the Macquarie structure and the timing of payments.
“Not now,” was the advice from Ellis. Charles seemed confused about what the particular risk was, but suggested it might have been to do “with tax”.
The payments from Nassif via Beckington did not flow for a further six months.
Charles is due to continue his evidence Tuesday.
There is, at least in the mind of Charles Perrottet, a brother of the former New South Wales premier Dominic Perrottet and a rightwing Liberal powerbroker who was the star witness at the Independent Commission against Corruption on Monday.
This report is published with credit to theguardian.com. Full available text from the wire is above. Read on theguardian.com →
Source: theguardian.com · Anne Davies. Published 31 Aug 2026, 03:00 pm.
