NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet is at the center of a scandal involving his brothers, Jean-Claude and Charles Perrottet, and their alleged involvement in shady deals with property developers.
The brothers failed to appear at a parliamentary inquiry last month, which investigated Liberal branch stacking and an alleged $50,000 bid to unseat federal Liberal MP, Alex Hawke.
The inquiry was triggered by claims made by state Liberal MP Ray Williams under parliamentary privilege of deals between party operatives and developers.
Williams alleged that Dominic Perrottet’s brothers and senior Liberal members had been paid to install new councillors to benefit a development company called Toplace run by Jean Nassif, who is currently in Lebanon.
Nassif’s daughter, Ashlyn Nassif, recently faced charges of fraud after four family properties, including her father’s home and office, were raided.
When a camera crew from A Current Affair confronted the Premier over the allegations outside a café in Sydney’s inner west, he refused to comment, stating that he was not his brother’s keeper.
He also denied any knowledge of his sister-in-law’s lobbying work for Toplace through her company, Macquarie Consulting.
The awkward line of questioning came just over a week before the NSW state election, causing Perrottet to flee through the back door of the café to an awaiting motorcade while being chased by the interviewer.
Charles Perrottet declined to give evidence, stating that he was no longer a resident of NSW, while Jean-Claude went missing for a month, avoiding the inquiry into the Hills Shire Council.
The parliamentary committee called the absence of the Perrottet brothers and Liberal powerbroker Christian Ellis the most committed, serious, and coordinated avoidance it had ever seen.
Its final report recommended a new inquiry be established after the election, and that it should call on Jean-Claude Perrottet, Charles Perrottet, Christian Ellis, and Toplace director Jean Nassif to give evidence.
The Premier had previously blamed Labor and the Greens for orchestrating the inquiry to embarrass him in the lead-up to the election.
↯↯↯Read More On The Topic On TDPel Media ↯↯↯