ICAC Operation Rosny LIVE updates: Jeremy Greenwood to return to witness box after Jean Nassif slams Elliott, Chandler in chaotic appearance

Welcome back to the Herald’s live coverage of the ICAC’s Operation Rosny public hearings, and after a chaotic interlude from Jean Nassif, the inquiry is now returning to regular programming.

I’m state political reporter Jessica McSweeney, and I’ll be bringing you all the latest updates as lobbyist Jeremy Greenwood returns to the witness box.

Greenwood will continue to be questioned on his connection to Jean Nassif and his knowledge of various payments made to and from his company Beckington, and later JPG Advisory.

Until then, here’s a recap of what we covered yesterday:

You can follow the hearing livestream here.

Peggy Dwyer, SC, has asked Jeremy Greenwood to explain why he never revealed that part of his payments to Anita Perrottet were actually a result of advice her husband Charles gave when questioned in private hearings.

When previously asked to disclose any arrangement he had with Charles Perrottet, Greenwood said: “I wouldn’t say he gave us advice or gave advice that would benefit our work exactly”.

“So you’re deliberately trying to avoid revealing to the commission any sort of discussions that Charles had with you relating to Toplace, for which he might be compensated directly or indirectly, holistically or not, through direct payment to him or through Macquarie,” Dwyer said.

“You didn’t reveal it, and you’ve changed your evidence now.”

Greenwood insisted his evidence had been consistent, and that he still didn’t believe he had a financial arrangement with Perrottet, rather he was paying the “legal entity” Macquarie Consulting – Anita Perrottet’s company.

Peggy Dwyer, SC, is continuing to question Jeremy Greenwood about the payments made to Anita Perrottet’s company Macquarie Consulting.

The ICAC is investigating allegations these payments were not for genuine work, but were, in fact, a “bogus arrangement” to wash money going to her husband Charles Perrottet for work he was doing for Jean Nassif.

Dwyer is now going through various invoices sent from Macquarie Consulting, which variously change fee structures, bonuses and the value of a sign-on fee. There are no written records of work Anita Perrottet did for Greenwood.

Greenwood told the corruption inquiry that it was not standard practice in government relations consulting to keep records of hours worked or specific work done.

A defensive Jeremy Greenwood has rejected suggestions his evidence was “ridiculous” when he said Anita Perrottet was paid significant sums for a “mum’s perspective” on the vaping industry.

The ICAC previously heard there were no emails reflecting any work done by Perrottet for Greenwood, nor any phone records showing direct calls between them, despite Anita being paid $660,000 over two years for “strategic advice”.

Peggy Dwyer, SC, asked Greenwood how old Perrottet’s children were when she was giving that advice.

“I don’t know, I don’t think it’s of relevance,” Greenwood retorted.

Peggy Dwyer, SC, has opened the public hearing today by challenging Jeremy Greenwood’s previous evidence about Anita Perrottet’s work for his consultancy firms.

Greenwood previously told the ICAC that Perrottet was a sounding board who gave advice for Greyhound Racing NSW to boost its public image. Dwyer presented documents to Greenwood that show advice he said she came up with was well in use by the industry prior.

“You specifically told this commission last week that Anita Perrottet came up with the term ‘zero unnecessary euthanasia’, and I’m saying to you, Mr Greenwood, you outsmarted yourself by coming up with that false evidence when it’s clearly a term used in a document years earlier. Do you accept that?” Dwyer asked.

Greenwood rejected her suggestion. He said he may have been mistaken when previously telling the commission Perrottet came up with that specific term, but insisted she gave invaluable advice.

“This is the problem when you ask for evidence that’s seven years old, but throughout my private hearings, I have told you Anita was instrumental in telling us to pivot away from promoting the commercial side of the business and how well it was doing, and promoting to the public about the welfare benefits and the efforts going into it,” Greenwood retorted.

Perrottet was paid significant lump sums by Greenwood’s company which she told the ICAC was solely for her professional advice. The ICAC has since heard evidence that those payments were in part for advice her husband Charles Perrottet gave to assist Beckington with work for Jean Nassif.

Among the many people who tuned in to watch Jean Nassif’s explosive evidence yesterday was Patrick Quintal. He’s a resident and strata committee member in the Toplace Vicinity complex in Canterbury, one of the defect-riddled developments Nassif left behind when he fled Australia.

“I would love him to show up in my apartment so I could walk him through the building and show him all the defects and issues one by one. He’s putting up a grand performance to stop haemorrhaging his public image, but you don’t have to look far to see the truth,” Quintal told this masthead.

At Vicinity, owners are still picking up the tab after major structural defects were discovered in parts of the 276-apartment complex, which straddles three buildings on a site next to the Cooks River.

Floor-to-ceiling cracks had appeared in a basement car park and roof beams in some apartments had sagged, while poor waterproofing turned some apartment balconies into waterfalls when it rained.

Jeremy Greenwood last week told the corruption inquiry that he regrets not keeping records of agreements made with Jean Nassif as the ICAC investigates large sums paid by the developer allegedly in exchange for political outcomes.

Greenwood said large payments made to his company Beckington were in recognition of help they gave in securing a fast-track process for two Toplace development projects dubbed Garthowen and Macquarie.

“But there’s nothing in writing to reflect that, correct?” Peggy Dwyer, SC, asked.

“No,” Greenwood said.

In between the Beirut bedroom rantings of fugitive Jean Nassif, the latest delicious episode of the ICAC has turned to Strathfield Council, where the order of the day appears to be scheming, double-dealing, broken promises and clandestine meetings in dark corners of establishments such as the Horse & Jockey Hotel.

At the heart of these Machiavellian manipulations appears to be the desire to attire oneself in the crimson mayoral robes, wear the heavy, silver-linked chain and have use of the mayoral wheels: a Toyota.

Listening to the evidence unfold was like watching a rerun of the entertaining documentary Rats in the Ranks.

“Leading up to the 1994 mayoral election, the three contenders for the position of mayor of the inner west council of Leichhardt, including Mayor Larry Hand, allowed themselves to be filmed for a documentary,” wrote author Robert Drewe in a review for the Herald in 1996.