‘We execute the prick’: Charles Perrottet sent text plotting downfall of NSW Liberal minister, Icac hears

Charles Perrottet, a former New South Wales Liberal Party figure, admitted to the Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) that he sent a text to his wife on 3 October 2021 outlining a plan to damage the career of rival Liberal minister David Elliott. The message, read out during the inquiry, included the line “we execute the prick once party room is over.” The text was sent two days before Dominic Perrottet was elected premier by Liberal MPs, a move that was brokered between the party’s conservative right faction and the moderate faction led by Matt Kean.

ICAC is conducting a broader investigation into alleged corruption involving the NSW Liberals between 2020 and 2023. It is examining whether figures such as Charles Perrottet accepted prohibited political donations from fugitive property developer Jean Nassif and his company Toplace, and whether those funds were used to influence the political fortunes of senior party members, including Elliott. Dominic Perrottet, who became premier in October 2021, is not named as a person of interest and has not been accused of wrongdoing.

Perrottet appeared before the inquiry on Friday after his wife, Anita Perrottet, had given evidence. During her testimony, counsel assisting Dr Peggy Dwyer read out the couple’s text exchange. In the first message, Charles Perrottet wrote that he had had a “long call with Dom” and that Dominic had thanked him for “everything, not just this weekend, but the last 20 years to get here.” He added that Dominic had apologised for the “Elliott stuff.” Anita’s reply asked whether Dominic had confirmed that Elliott would not receive a ministry. Perrottet replied that he had not asked and that they would wait for a call the next day, adding that “we execute the prick as soon as party room is over.”

At the close of his evidence, Perrottet admitted the message referred to Elliott but said he was annoyed by the former police minister’s “anyone but Dom” campaign among MPs. He described his frustration with how Elliott had acted over the weekend. Under questioning from Dwyer and presiding commissioner Fabian Gleeson, Anita Perrottet denied that her husband was a “muscle” or “power broker” in the party’s conservative right faction.

Elliott, who had served as police minister in the Berejiklian government, was later moved to the transport portfolio. He has told the inquiry that he was targeted by Nassif for opposing Toplace developments. ICAC has previously heard intercepted phone calls in which Nassif claimed he had “forced the boys” to remove Elliott from the seat of Baulkham Hills and had sent “Castle Hill fucking hundreds of new members.” Elliott retired before the March 2023 election after his seat was abolished and he could not secure sufficient branch support in Castle Hill.

The inquiry has also examined allegations that Perrottet, along with Liberal operatives Christian Ellis and Jeremy Greenwood, anticipated receiving a $2 million payment from Nassif, to be distributed evenly among them. The commission heard that Anita Perrottet received Charles’s share through invoices from her business, Macquarie Consulting, to lobbying companies Beckington (controlled by Ellis and Greenwood) and JPG Advisory (controlled by Greenwood). Perrottet said he began advising Nassif on developments through Beckington after being introduced by Greenwood in late 2019 or early 2020, meeting Nassif face‑to‑face 10 to 12 times. When asked whether Greenwood suggested they share the financial spoils, Perrottet said they had an arrangement in which Anita would be compensated. He also admitted telling Nassif what he wanted to hear, noting that Nassif was aware of his membership in the conservative right faction and was unhappy with Elliott.

Perrottet described a longstanding feud with Elliott’s centre‑right faction, citing factional moves that forced Dominic Perrottet from Castle Hill to Hawkesbury in 2015. He suggested that if the 2015 move had not occurred, the party dynamics might have been different. Anita Perrottet, who had no prior knowledge of Nassif beyond media reports, was shown an email from October 2020 in which her company provided a lobbyist with a detailed summary of a Nassif development in Rosebery, mentioning Nassif and Toplace repeatedly. She denied that she was unprepared to admit her husband’s work for Nassif or Toplace.

Perrottet has taken a leave of absence from his job at BP during the inquiry and is scheduled to appear again on Monday and Tuesday next week. On Thursday, ICAC announced that Nassif, who fled to Lebanon in 2022, would appear by video link; he has denied any wrongdoing. The inquiry into alleged corruption within the NSW Liberal Party continues.