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🇦🇺 Australia /Conflict & Security

The “loyal foot soldiers” who sought to reshape the NSW Liberal Party

From ABC Australia · () English

Translated from English and summarized by DistantNews. Read the original for the full story.

At a glance

In-depth Named sources Under investigation
  • The Reformers, a network founded in 2018 by lobbyists Christian Ellis and Robert Assaf, sought to recruit conservatives and influence the internal politics of the NSW Liberal Party.
  • Several figures linked to the group are now central to an ICAC inquiry into alleged unlawful political donations, branch stacking and sham arrangements to channel money into politics.
  • The network’s connections included the brothers of former NSW premier Dominic Perrottet, who has not been accused of wrongdoing and referred the allegations to ICAC.

They were young, zealous and convinced they could transform the NSW Liberal Party. Calling themselves the Reformers, the network of operatives and lobbyists set out to push the party further to the right by recruiting like-minded conservatives and placing them in Liberal branches.

“We had wild dreams … We were 20-something-year-old guys dreaming big,” co-founder Robert Assaf said. Years later, that campaign has placed the group at the center of one of the state’s biggest corruption probes in years.

The network emerged publicly in 2018, founded by lobbyists Christian Ellis and Assaf. Its reach extended into influential circles in NSW conservative politics. Charles and Jean-Claude Perrottet, brothers of former NSW premier Dominic Perrottet, were involved, as was former Liberal staffer Dylan Whitelaw while he worked at Catholic Schools NSW. Lobbyist Jeremy Greenwood maintained close ties to the founders but insisted during his ICAC testimony that he was not a member.

We had wild dreams … We were 20-something-year-old guys dreaming big.

· Robert AssafThe Reformers co-founder described the network’s ambitions when its members were young political operatives.

For weeks, the NSW Independent Commission Against Corruption has examined allegations involving unlawful political donations, branch stacking and “sham” arrangements used to channel money into politics. Dominic Perrottet has not been accused of wrongdoing. He referred the allegations to ICAC in 2022.

The inquiry has also highlighted long-standing personal connections among some of the figures. Assaf, Greenwood and the Perrottet brothers all attended Redfield College in Sydney’s Hills district, a Catholic boys’ school with a strong conservative tradition. The school is linked to Opus Dei and is among several independent Sydney schools managed by the Pared Foundation. Former student Tim Pocock, who wrote about growing up gay in a conservative Catholic family and attending the college, described the influence of Opus Dei and the school’s “extreme conservatism” as inescapable. He said he was not surprised that some alumni sought to stack the NSW Liberal Party.

Extreme conservatism

· Tim PocockThe former Redfield College student used the phrase to describe the atmosphere he associated with Opus Dei and the school.
About this summary

Originally published by ABC Australia in English. Translated, summarized, and contextualized automatically by DistantNews, with a note on how the source frames the story. Not individually reviewed before publishing. How this works.

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