Multi-millionaire pubs and pokies baron Michael O’Hara was a founding funder of both the “NSW Reformers” and of far-right lobby group “Advance”, he has told a corruption probe.
The NSW Independent Commission Against Corruption today kicked off six weeks of public hearings into allegations of branch stacking by the “NSW Reformers”, a religious right-wing faction of the Liberal Party.
Among the allegations are that now fugitive property developer Jean Nassif made payments aimed at stacking Liberal Party branches to get his developments approved.
It is alleged payments to NSW Reformers were not disclosed to the NSW Electoral Commission, and that they were made by prohibited donors.
Nassif and O’Hara were prohibited political donors in NSW because of their involvement in property development.
The first witness to take the stand, O’Hara told the inquiry he had paid sham invoices, supposedly for “strategic wealth strategy investment advice”, when no such advice was provided.
In fact, the payments went to NSW Reformers.
It is alleged two of former NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet’s brothers, Charles Perrottet and Jean-Claude Perrottet, were among the key figures of the secretive hard-right “Christian” group.
Others allegedly involved were former key NSW Liberal party Christian Ellis and lobbyist Jeremy Greenwood.
The NSW Reformers: allegations of serious misconduct spanning years. Source: The Klaxon
Under examination by ICAC Counsel Assisting Dr Peggy Dwyer, SC, O’Hara said he had made a series of payments to “NSW Reformers” in 2018 and 2019.
In 2020 he began making the payments to Beckington, a corporate entity controlled by Ellis, via sham invoices for “strategic wealth investment advice”.
Those payments were not declared to the NSW Electoral Commission.
O’Hara said he had made the payments to help build up the right-wing of the Liberal Party.
“The idea was to get more conservative instead of left-wing Liberal people,” he told the inquiry.
O’Hara said his payments were to assist NSW Reformers get more “memberships” for the NSW Liberals as well as “to ensure the right people got preselection”.
He had been a major funder of NSW Reformers, as well as to lobby group “Advance”, to which he had given at least $150,000 between 2023 and 2025.
O’Hara had been a “foundation” funder of Advance in 2018, the same year he started making payments to NSW Reformers.
Pubs and pokies baron Michael O’Hara fronts the ICAC this afternoon. Source: ICAC
The inquiry heard the payments to Advance had been disclosed with electoral authorities, but the payments to NSW Reformers had not.
Property developers are banned from making political donations in NSW but not from making political donations at the federal level.
Advance is registered as a political affiliate of the Liberal Party at the federal level.
O’Hara said he was one of “about ten people” asked to finance Advance “when it kicked off”.
“I was asked to kick-in with about ten people, who were tapped on the shoulder in about 2018, 2019,” he said.
“I kicked in then and I have kicked in since”.
His payments to Advance were reported to the Australian Electoral Commission after it required Advance be registered as a political operator.
“Matt Sheahan who is the CEO of Advance rang me and said ‘we’ve just been advised by the electoral office that we are deemed to be a political party’,” O’Hara said.
O’Hara said Sheehan told him that “we’ve got some sort of advice an there’s not much we can do about it”.
“He said we’re going to have to declare it and it’s going to be a matter of public record,” O’Hara said.
He said he had started funding NSW Reformers after being approached by Christian Ellis.
“I said ‘yes, anything that promotes my values I’m prepared to put some money behind’,” O’Hara said.
The hearings continue.
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Anthony Klan
Editor, The Klaxon
