Former New South Wales fair trading minister Eleni Petinos has given evidence to the Independent Commission Against Corruption (Icac) inquiry, suggesting she may have been used by fellow Liberals in 2022 to try and remove building commissioner David Chandler. Petinos recounted numerous attempts to persuade her that Chandler was “dodgy” and should be sacked.
Petinos told the inquiry that her subsequent sacking as a minister in the Dominic Perrottet government in July 2022, which was allegedly for bullying staff, was unfair. She suggested it was potentially motivated by her reluctance to dismiss the building commissioner. Petinos stated to Icac on Thursday, “I thought there was something very strange at play for Dominic to take the action that he did so swiftly or so coldly and without the opportunity to even put me in front of the cameras. That seemed bizarre.”
Petinos testified that on Friday 27 July 2022, then-Premier Perrottet, who was in India, had been supportive after the bullying allegations against her were published. However, by Sunday night, he had decided to sack her. In the interim, Chandler had resigned, lodging a resignation letter that alleged undue influence on the Liberal government by developers and a lack of support from Petinos and her staff. Chandler was later reinstated.
Petinos also told Icac that soon after becoming fair trading minister in December 2021, Charles Perrottet, the premier’s brother, suggested Chandler was “dodgy”. Charles Perrottet is a person of interest in Operation Rosny, which is investigating alleged payments totalling $2m from developer Jean Nassif to Liberal party operatives.