Angus Taylor has inadvertently taken centre stage in an Icac hearing – and the fallout could be profound

The Liberal party’s federal leader, Angus Taylor, has been named as a potential donor to a conservative Liberal group being investigated by the NSW corruption watchdog. Photograph: Jay Kogler/AAP View image in fullscreen The Liberal party’s federal leader, Angus Taylor, has been named as a potential donor to a conservative Liberal group being investigated by the NSW corruption watchdog. Photograph: Jay Kogler/AAP Analysis Angus Taylor has inadvertently taken centre stage in an Icac hearing – and the fallout could be profound Anne Davies If the opposition leader was funding one side of a vicious factional war, it would be hard for many in the party to stomach Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast Independent Commission against Corruption inquiries have an uncanny tendency to sprawl in unexpected directions. Just ask former New South Wales premier, Gladys Berejiklian, who was caught on tape with her secret boyfriend, former NSW MP Daryl Maguire, during an investigation into his dealings with developers. Or former premier Barry O’Farrell, who was tripped up over a bottle of Penfolds Grange during an inquiry into state water contracts. In the Icac hearing on Tuesday into allegations of corruption against people associated with the NSW Liberal party, the federal opposition leader, Angus Taylor, took centre stage – even though he was hundreds of kilometres away in Rockhampton. He is not accused of wrongdoing. The bombshell came in a group chat of young Liberal power brokers known as “Reformers” who are at the centre of Icac’s Operation Rosny, an investigation into alleged breaches of the NSW Electoral Funding Act. The secretive Reformers group were a sub-faction of the right of the NSW Liberals who were intent on restoring conservative values to the party. The Icac is looking at alleged undisclosed donations made by the fugitive developer Jean Nassif and others that were used to fund the Reformers’ efforts to recruit members and take over branches. Sign up for the Breaking News Australia email Taylor surfaced in a message from Dallas McInerney, head of the Catholic Schools Association NSW and supporter of the Reformers, which was shared with the group in March 2021. In the message McInerney allegedly said he planned to “to shake down Angus for $10,000” while at a meeting in Canberra. On Tuesday, a former NSW Liberal parliamentary staffer and associate of the Reformers, Dylan Whitelaw, who is not named in Icac’s allegations, gave evidence. He was shown a message sent to the group in which he allegedly wrote “Dallas has told me he got the commitment from Angus the 15k injection plus a 3k monthly donation!” Whitelaw said he did not recall sending the message, nor did he recall Taylor making a financial contribution to the Reformers. We don’t know whether Taylor actually made the payments – and even if he did, there’s a question over whether they were covered by NSW’s political donations laws. A statement issued after Taylor was name