Alleged illicit political donations and branch-stacking for the Liberal Party in NSW are being investigated by the Independent Commission Against Corruption.
Catholic Schools NSW chief executive Dallas McInerney fronted ICAC for a second day and was pressed on whether a body of work by consultancy firm Beckington was provided, having been vouched for by former premier Dominic Perrottet.
In an intervention by commissioner Fabian Gleeson, Mr McInerney was told to be specific when answering why $130,000 was paid over two years, despite hardly any particular deliverables being submitted.
"What represents this body of work in terms of a tangible item such as a piece of paper, an email, a text message, a WhatsApp message or whatever it?" he asked.
"There were scheduled meetings in my diary... where this iterative process and due diligence took place," Mr McInernery replied.
But counsel assisting Juliet Curtin said his due diligence was poor, because an Australian Business Number listed on the invoices belonged to the sister of Beckington's co-founder Christian Ellis."What you're doing here Mr McInerney is manufacturing an auditable paper trail," she argued.
"I would regard that as the most simple interpretation ever," he replied.
The education group has been in the crosshairs of the inquiry for allegations staffers funnelled funds through bogus invoices to the Reformers, a conservative Christian faction among the NSW Liberals, via two lobbying firms.
Other witnesses due to be called to ICAC next week include former NSW police minister David Elliott and current Liberal MP Eleni Petinos.
Ms Petinos, who is on maternity leave, will be the second member of the opposition's frontbench to give evidence after senior Liberal MP Damien Tudehope.
The commission heard a taped phone call from fugitive property developer Jean Nassif, where he bragged he ushered in a 2021 cabinet reshuffle where Ms Petinos was promoted.
Her new Fair Trading portfolio involved overseeing Building Commissioner David Chandler, who Mr Nassif viewed as a niggling threat to his property empire Toplace.
As Ms Petinos was being announced as a witness, NSW Premier Chris Minns wasted no time announcing a Labor candidate to contest her southern Sydney seat of Miranda in the 2027 state election.
"Not all MPs are created equal to be perfectly honest with you, there are a few duds out there," Mr Minns told reporters, before he quickly emphasised he was not pointing the finger at Ms Petinos.
"We're not going to run a negative campaign... in fairness to her she deserves to have her say in the commission without me prejudging it."
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