NSW Reformers co-founder tells ICAC he thought fundraising law did not apply to faction
The co-founder of the secretive NSW Reformers faction, Robert Assaf, has told a corruption inquiry he did not think political fundraising laws covered the gr...
The co-founder of the secretive NSW Reformers faction, Robert Assaf, has told a corruption inquiry he did not think political fundraising laws covered the group. The Independent Commission Against Corruption is examining whether members accepted money from donors barred from making political donations, including property developers and hoteliers.
Assaf, giving evidence on Thursday, said he saw the Reformers as an internal Liberal Party faction, not a political organisation. That, he told the inquiry, is why he “just didn’t think the law applied” to them. The remark cuts to the heart of the case ICAC is pursuing: whether a faction operating inside a major party can still be bound by the same donation rules as the party itself.
‘Very amateur’, but effective
Assaf sought to play down the group’s reach. He described the Reformers as “very amateur”, yet conceded they had been successful at recruiting members. That combination — limited structure, real traction — is now part of what investigators are examining.
Counsel Assisting Peggy Dwyer SC pushed back hard. “Ignorance of the law is no excuse,” she told Assaf, pointing out that he had worked for a range of federal MPs and served as a branch president for years. The exchange suggested ICAC was not persuaded by claims that the rules were unclear or unfamiliar.
What ICAC is testing
The commission is looking at whether members of the religious Liberal Party sub-faction accepted prohibited donations from sources such as property developers and hoteliers. That probe sits within a broader Australian debate over how political parties and their internal power blocs handle money, influence and access.
Donor restrictions have become a familiar fault line in Australian politics, where state and federal rules can differ and enforcement often depends on commission-led investigations. In this case, ICAC is zeroing in on whether a faction that said it was merely an internal club actually functioned, in fundraising terms, like a political group.
Assaf later conceded to the commission that he knew a financial arrangem...
