Catholic schools chief denies wiping critical evidence after performing factory reset on phone, Icac hears

Dallas McInerney tells inquiry he wiped data from his devices over the weekend after receiving a security warning from his bank

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The chief executive of Catholic Schools NSW has denied he performed a factory reset on a work phone and iPad to wipe critical evidence for an investigation into allegations of corruption in the New South Wales Liberal party, an inquiry has heard.

On Wednesday afternoon, Dallas McInerney revealed he had performed the factory reset over the weekend after giving evidence to the NSW Independent Commission Against Corruption (Icac) last week.

On Friday, McInerney was asked to provide messages between him and Reformer Jean-Claude Perrottet in 2021, which he has shared with the commission.

But asked on Wednesday if his phone contained messages between him and other Reformers, McInerney revealed he had reset the device on Saturday morning, knowingly wiping its data, after his bank contacted him on Friday to tell him his account had been “compromised by an unknown merchant”.

He said he performed a factory reset on an iPad, which remained in his possession alongside the phone ahead of being surrendered to Catholic Schools NSW, “in the realisation I’m not likely returning to the company”.

Counsel assisting, Dr Peggy Dwyer SC, put it to McInerney that the move was “a transparent attempt … to wipe evidence that would have been critical for this commission”.

McInerney responded that he had known about Icac’s public inquiry “for almost seven or eight weeks”.

“Had I wanted to do any malfeasance of that nature, I would have had quite a runway to do that. What triggered it was a compromise on my banking alerted to me by the NAB [National Australia Bank], and I have the case file number for that. I can share that with the commission.”

McInerney said he had not transferred any of the contents, which included personal messages and family photos, from his Catholic Schools NSW phone to the iCloud before resetting it, but said some additional messages had been provided to his legal team.

On Wednesday afternoon, the commission called for all messages between McInerney and members of the Reformers between April 2019 and July 2023 to be made available by 1pm on Thursday.

McInerney admitted to meeting with Reformers Robert Assaf and Jeremy Greenwood in the weeks before the inquiry. Icac has previously heard that Assaf met with Greenwood on multiple occasions this year, with Assaf claiming they had discussed his summons.

McInerney said his meeting with Assaf, which was attended by both men’s sisters, was a “check-in on Robert”. He said he met with Greenwood on at least two occasions, with the men discussing “matters in the public domain” relating to Icac’s inquiry.

‘Pestering’ Angus Taylor

On Wednesday, the inquiry heard that McInerney, a factional ally of Angus Taylor , “pestered” the now opposition leader for a meeting with a member of a Christian Liberal factional group under investigation for soliciting illegal donations.

McInerney, who last week denied a message about a plan to “shake down Angus” referred to donations to the group, was asked on Wednesday about a 2020 request to help organise a meeting with Taylor by Reformer Christian Ellis.

Icac heard messages between and McInerney and Ellis about setting up a meeting between Ellis and Taylor in February 2020, when he was federal energy minister.

After an initial request was unsuccessful, Ellis wrote days later to McInerney: “I know I’m being a pest, but any luck with Angus by any chance? Next Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday?”

McInerney wrote back: “Don’t worry about pestering. That’s how things happen. I’m pestering him [Taylor] big time”.

On Wednesday, McInerney accepted that messages, including one in which Ellis wrote “You’re a legend”, showed it appeared he had secured the meeting with Taylor.

Dwyer revealed that Ellis and Jeremy Greenwood, who ran lobbying company Beckington alongside him, were involved in fundraising for an organisation described as the “Hume Foundation” or “Hume Forum”, which she said was a body that raised funds for Taylor and the Liberal party in his federal seat.

McInerney was asked about a 2019 email from the chair of the organisation to Ellis which said “Dallas will sort your dollar arrangements out with AT”. He acknowledged AT referred to Angus Taylor, but said he didn’t recall discussing anything with Ellis, and rejected the suggestion that support for fundraising had been provided to Ellis through a Beckington retainer from Catholic Schools NSW.

Taylor is not named in Icac’s allegations and has repeatedly denied making payments to the Reformers. He has not responded to questions about his knowledge of the Reformers activity, declining to provide “a running commentary” on Icac’s investigations.

Icac is investigating the allegation that between 2019 and 2023, members of the Reformers solicited or accepted illegal donations to support the recruitment or renewal of members of the Liberal party.

They wanted more conservative policies on issues such as same-sex marriage, abortion and euthanasia. The inquiry has heard that Catholic Schools paid Beckington, controlled by Ellis and Greenwood, and JPG Advisory, controlled by Greenwood, $265,900 between August 2019 and December 2023.

McInerney accepted Dwyer’s suggestion that messages between him and Reformers included “political machinations”, but he rejected the idea that “years of back and forth … about factional dealings” showed most of the work done by Beckington for Catholic Schools NSW was factional Liberal party work.

“No, [consulting] services were rendered to the company,” he said.

McInerney was asked about an exchange in April 2020 between him and Ellis about an Easter message from Liberal MP for Lindsay, Melissa McIntosh, shared between the two men with the title: “She has the penmanship of a junior high school student.”

In a message to her constituents shared during the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, McIntosh wrote: “Today we have hope for our community that no matter how dark things feel, we act together in kindness, support, and in spirit.”

On Wednesday, McInerney said he was a supporter of McIntosh, who is a member of the Liberals centre-right faction, saying he had written references for her when she was “under severe threat of losing her pre-selection”.

In 2020, after Ellis wrote “Hahaha, how is she an MP?” McInerney responded: “Dumb as dog shit.”

The inquiry heard that when the ABC’s Four Corners was planning to air a program on factionalism in the NSW Liberals in 2022, McInerney started a WhatsApp group chat called “Four Corners Ready” which he told members was to “get our defenses up and align potential responses”.

Asked about messages in which he wrote “Do we think Reformers get a mention?” and “Need to protect Dom”, McInerney said this was because the then premier Dominic Perrottet, was “our leader”, but disputed a connection with the Reformers.

Dominic Perrottet has not been named as a person of interest in Icac’s allegations.

McInerney stood aside from his role as CEO before the Icac hearings began “to allow the work of Catholic Schools NSW to continue its important mission”, he previously said in a statement. Taylor has been contacted for comment.