Microphones and Machinations: The Developer, the Premier’s Brother, and a Sydney Scandal

New South Wales politics has long operated on a distinct currency, where property development and political leverage are traded with remarkable fluidity. The Independent Commission Against Corruption is currently examining a vivid illustration of this marketplace. At the centre of the inquiry is Charles Perrottet, brother of former Premier Dominic Perrottet, who is accused of circulating covert recordings and political dirt to advance the interests of Jean Nassif, a developer who has since fled to rural Lebanon. The commission is investigating whether Liberal Party figures accepted donations from Nassif and his company, Toplace, in exchange for orchestrating the downfall of bureaucratic and political opponents.

The mechanics of this alleged operation resemble a low-rent espionage thriller. According to evidence from former Liberal MP and ministerial chief of staff Chris Spence, Charles Perrottet disseminated highly sensitive audio files in 2021. One recording purportedly featured Nassif discussing an arrangement where former building commissioner David Chandler would demand a substantial sum for an occupation certificate. Another, captured covertly from a pocket, caught former minister David Elliott criticising Dominic Perrottet shortly before the latter assumed the premiership. Spence told the inquiry that the younger Perrottet had supposedly sent the Elliott recording merely to request technical assistance in removing ambient noise, a rather mundane excuse for handling explosive material.

The targets of this alleged whisper campaign were not chosen at random. Elliott had previously opposed a controversial Toplace development in the Sydney suburb of Cherrybrook. Chandler, meanwhile, was actively scrutinising the construction sector. The inquiry heard that Charles Perrottet and Spence allegedly pressured former fair trading minister Eleni Petinos to dismiss Chandler. Petinos, who was herself dismissed in July 2022 amidst workplace allegations, recently claimed she was manipulated by her party colleagues to execute Chandler’s removal. Spence firmly rejected this, insisting he merely advised Petinos’s office to prepare for media inquiries.

As the inquiry progresses, the internal cohesion of the state Liberal faction is visibly disintegrating. Spence used his appearance at the commission to aggressively discredit former staffer Dylan Whitelaw, who had previously testified that Spence explicitly planned to use the Chandler video for political leverage. Dismissing his former colleague as entirely untrustworthy, Spence painted a picture of a dysfunctional ministerial office. Yet, when pressed on whether the distribution of secret recordings constituted an orchestrated effort to serve Nassif’s commercial agenda, Spence conceded that, in retrospect, it certainly appeared that way.

The spectacle offers a grim diagnosis of the state's administrative apparatus. While Charles Perrottet, who denies any impropriety, prepares to face the commission, the primary beneficiary of these alleged machinations remains comfortably out of reach. Nassif, maintaining his innocence from the Levant, is not expected to testify. What remains is a stark display of how easily the levers of government can allegedly be co-opted by private interests, provided one has the right connections and a pocket discreet enough to hide a microphone.

Written by Andreas Hofer andreas.hofer@alpineweekly.com