One of those competing for a seat in the public gallery, Rose, told the Herald that she wants to establish an ICAC pub crawl.
asserted
she → compete → crawl
First stop would be the Hunters Hill Hotel, where the now-fired head of Catholic Schools NSW, Dallas McInerney, discovered his account blocked on a Friday night.
asserted
account → fire → night
Over the weekend, he managed to do a “factory reset” on his phone and iPad, wiping all the contents.
asserted
he → manage → contents
McInerney was between ICAC appearances and was given the weekend to produce any messages between him and certain other persons of interest to the inquiry.
asserted
McInerney → give → inquiry
But when he returned after the break, he informed the commission his bank account had been compromised and he’d done a factory reset.
asserted
he → return → reset
Accused of engaging in “a transparent attempt to wipe evidence”, McInerney was aghast.
asserted
McInerney → accuse → evidence
“Had I wanted to do any malfeasance of that nature, I would have had quite the runway to do that,” McInerney protested.
asserted
McInerney → want → that
Next stop, offered Rose, would be The Royal Oak in Double Bay, where pub crawlers would leave their phones two tables away.
asserted
crawlers → offer → phones
The commission heard that on the morning of June 24, 2025, one of the key persons of interest at this inquiry, lobbyist Jeremy Greenwood, gave evidence at a private hearing of the commission.
asserted
one → hear → commission
Later that same day, Greenwood headed to the Oak to meet another key person of interest, Jean-Claude Perrottet, a member of the hard right of the Liberal Party and the younger brother of former premier Dom Perrottet.
asserted
Greenwood → head → Perrottet
CCTV from the pub showed the pair leaving their phones at another table, some metres away.
asserted
pair → show → table
It is an offence, which can attract a jail term, to discuss evidence given at a secret hearing – or even to disclose you’ve been summoned to one.
asserted
you → attract → one
Greenwood denied he was deploying evasive surveillance methods.
asserted
he → deny → methods
Counsel assisting, Dr Peggy Dwyer, SC, asked: “So do you say that when you go to any pub with your friends, you deliberately put your phones at another table, a few tables away?”
asserted
you → assist → table
He replied: “It’s not uncommon for me to do that at all.
asserted
me → reply → that
I remember Barack Obama once said he never brings a phone into a meeting.”
asserted
he → remember → meeting
Then we have the Horse & Jockey Hotel in Homebush where embattled Strathfield mayor Matthew Blackmore met up with fellow councillor Karen Pensabene, one of the alleged blackmailers trying to oust him from the mayoralty.
asserted
Blackmore → have → mayoralty
It was January 16, 2023, and Blackmore had learnt over the previous days that Labor councillor Sharangan Maheswaran had organised five months of surveillance on him to force him to give up the mayor’s job.
asserted
Maheswaran → learn → job
They’d gone to the pub after Blackmore had told Pensabene: “I feel sick that my children have been surveillanced (sic) by Sharangan’s undercover people.
asserted
children → go → people
I can’t go home right now, knowing that.
asserted
I → go → that
I’m just driving round aimlessly.
asserted
I → drive → ?
I need a drink.”
The pub crawlers could make a quick stop at Star Casino where, in September 2019, disgraced developer and high-roller Jean Nassif was arrested – and ultimately convicted – for cocaine possession.
Then it’s off to the Longueville Hotel in Lane Cove.
uncertain
it → need → Cove
Enjoying a beer on the night of January 28, 2021, were Charles Perrottet, Maheswaran, Greenwood and Christian Ellis.
asserted
Perrottet → enjoy → January
The inquiry has heard that Maheswaran, a lawyer and Nassif’s right-hand man, was handing Perrottet a cheque for $148,500 from Nassif, to be used by the other three for alleged dodgy dealings to advance Nassif’s development interests.
asserted
Maheswaran → hear → interests
Greenwood and Ellis had set up a lobbying company Beckington, which Nassif used to channel otherwise banned donations.
asserted
Nassif → set → donations
Ellis, Greenwood and Perrottet allegedly split $2 million that Nassif washed through Beckington.
uncertain
Nassif → split → Beckington
As it turned out, Maheswaran didn’t bring the cheque, and it was handed to Perrottet the following day.
asserted
it → turn → Perrottet
There is also a planned ICAC pub trivia, with questions about how many times Dwyer said: “Let me refresh your memory”, and how many times Anita Perrottet said: “I don’t recall”.
asserted
I → be → memory
Also in the quiz will be the string of nicknames, including “Papal Baguette”, the moniker Maheswaran gave to Charles Perrottet [understood to be a reference to Perrottet being a member of Opus Dei and his surname being French].
asserted
surname → include → Dei
“The Rat” was Maheswaran’s nickname for another member of the hard-right, Robert Assaf, whom he thought might be talking to authorities.
uncertain
he → think → authorities
“Concord” was their nickname for Nassif, who had an office in Concord.
asserted
who → have → Concord
And lastly, “Shenanigans”, the nickname Dwyer asked Sharangan Maheswaran about.
asserted
Dwyer → ask → Maheswaran
He corrected her, saying his nickname at school was “Shanigans”.
asserted
nickname → correct → school
As Operation Rosny wraps up, many of the witnesses, whose evidence had been shredded and their reputations damaged, might raise a glass and think of novelist F. Scott Fitzgerald, who once observed: “Here’s to alcohol, the rose-coloured glasses of life.
uncertain
who → wrap → life
The Aporia
