Hotelier stopped funding NSW Liberal ‘Reformers’ after deciding Morrison and Perrottet had ‘gone woke’, Icac hears

Hotelier Michael O’Hara has given evidence during the Icac Operation Rosny hearings in Sydney. Photograph: Dan Himbrechts/AAP View image in fullscreen Hotelier Michael O’Hara has given evidence during the Icac Operation Rosny hearings in Sydney. Photograph: Dan Himbrechts/AAP Hotelier stopped funding NSW Liberal ‘Reformers’ after deciding Morrison and Perrottet had ‘gone woke’, Icac hears Michael O’Hara also tells corruption watchdog he was wrong to support young Liberals alleged to have solicited illegal donations, saying ‘I made a mistake’ Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updates Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast A witness who allegedly made prohibited donations to young New South Wales Liberal powerbrokers who planned to move the party to the right has told the corruption watchdog he is now “disgusted” by the scheme and “made a mistake” supporting the group. The Independent Commission Against Corruption (Icac) on Tuesday held its second day of Operation Rosny hearings into allegations of corruption against people associated with the NSW Liberal party. In her opening statement on Monday, counsel assisting Peggy Dwyer SC said evidence would show how a group of young Liberal power brokers known as the “Reformers” allegedly solicited illegal donations to support branch stacking efforts to move the party to the conservative right. In a separate allegation, she said that evidence would show members of the group anticipated receiving $2m from fugitive property developer Jean Nassif in exchange for outcomes sought by him. On Tuesday, hotelier Michael O’Hara finished giving evidence to the inquiry . O’Hara, prohibited from making political donations because of his involvement in the liquor industry, is alleged to have paid $165,000 to the Reformers between 2018 and 2023. “After what I heard yesterday and what I read in the newspapers … I am absolutely astounded by where it all ended up, which I had absolutely no knowledge of. I’m disgusted,” he said. O’Hara admitted that he had made payments to registered lobbyist Beckington, founded by Reformers member Christian Ellis, and to a company controlled by Jean-Claude Perrottet, the younger brother of former Liberal premier Dominic Perrottet, to support branch-stacking efforts in Liberal branches in NSW, under the guise of financial advice or consulting services. O’Hara was asked if he had discussed his donations to the Reformers during phone calls and text messages in September 2021 with now NSW shadow attorney general Damien Tudehope, his former business partner, following concerns O’Hara had about an anti-vaccination stance the group had taken. “Well, the records show that I’ve spoken to him … I don’t recall the conversation,” he said. Asked if the contact would have included concerns about his support for the Reformers, O’Hara said: “It would appear so, yes.” The inquiry heard O’Hara made his final payment in 2023 to the Reformers after coming to believe that the