Save
You have reached your maximum number of saved items.
Remove items from your saved list to add more.
AAA
Dallas McInerney, chief executive of Catholic Schools NSW, has stood aside from his position after the corruption watchdog revealed it was investigating whether he signed off on illegal political donations to recruit Liberal Party members.
“I offered to my board to stand aside for the duration of the ICAC matter and strongly recommended they accept that offer to allow the work of Catholic Schools NSW to continue its important mission,” McInerney said on Thursday afternoon.
Dallas McInerney, the head of Catholic Schools NSW, said he would stand aside.Rhett Wyman
“I was keen to privilege the work of Catholic Schools NSW before my own standing.”
He told its board yesterday of the decision to step aside. He has also stepped down from the board of the NSW Education Standards Authority.
Related Article
“This means I can also have the time to fully cooperate and assist ICAC with its important investigation,” he said.
On Wednesday, the state’s Independent Commission Against Corruption announced a public inquiry following its long-running investigation into Sydney property developer Jean Nassif’s links to Liberal Party figures, councils and Catholic schools.
It will probe whether several Liberal Party figures “solicited or accepted political donations” including from prohibited donors, in amounts that were not declared and exceeded applicable donation caps.
It alleged the scheme was designed to recruit party members or renew their memberships.
Catholic Schools NSW was drawn into the inquiry, with allegations the organisation made political donations which McInerney – a long-time right-wing Liberal powerbroker – “arranged and approved” to recruit members to the party.
The ICAC said the “amounts that were not declared and exceeded applicable donation caps”.
In a statement, Catholic Schools NSW said it was aware of the announcement by the Independent Commission Against Corruption and would deal with the matters raised in an “appropriate and thorough” manner.
“The board has approved interim governance arrangements while this process is under way. As part of those arrangements, Mr Dallas McInerney will temporarily step aside from the exercise of his day-to-day responsibilities as Chief Executive Officer.”
Interim delegation arrangements have been put in place to ensure continuity of leadership and operations, it said.
The statement said Catholic Schools NSW “remains focused on its mission of serving Catholic education in NSW and supporting the schools, students, families and communities entrusted to its care”.
The allegations are reverberating across the more than 500 Catholic schools the organisation oversees in NSW.
NSW Opposition Leader Kellie Sloane held a press conference on Thursday to insist anyone found to be corrupt would have no place in her team.
“This is a massive distraction, an incredible disappointment, and the timing’s not ideal as we lead up to an election,” she said.
Asked if she was confident members of the opposition wouldn’t be implicated, Sloane said: “I just honestly don’t know”.
Related Article
She said she had not asked the Liberal Party if it had independently tried to verify any claims made by MP Ray Williams in his 2022 speech to parliament when he claimed his own colleagues were involved in systemic corruption.
Minns on Thursday morning said it was appropriate that the two Labor Strathfield councillors named in the inquiry be suspended from the party pending the investigation.
“Labor has figured prominently in previous ICAC investigations and inquiries, and we’ve had to learn the lessons from that, and they’ve been very difficult, but hugely important public inquiries … it’s a reckoning for us too in the past, and we have to heed the lessons from it,” he said.
When asked if political donation laws needed to be overhauled even further, Minns said “potentially” but said he would wait to see the full scope of evidence before looking at changes.
Be the first to know when major news happens. Sign up for breaking news alerts on email or turn on notifications in the app.
Save
You have reached your maximum number of saved items.
Remove items from your saved list to add more.
Jessica McSweeney is a reporter at The Sydney Morning Herald covering state politics and urban affairs.Connect via email.From our partners