Dominic Perrottet slams reporters after being grilled over missing brother

Dominic Perrottet has slammed reporters to “leave my family out of it” after he was grilled over the whereabouts of his younger brother.

NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet told reporters to ‘leave my family out of it’. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Tim Pascoe

NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet told reporters on Thursday to “leave my family out of it” after he was repeatedly grilled over the whereabouts of his younger brother, who failed to respond to a summons to give evidence at a NSW parliamentary inquiry.

Hearings for the probe into allegations of impropriety against the Hills Shire Council began on Wednesday and will continue on Thursday and into next week.

During Wednesday’s session, it was revealed that Mr Perrottet’s younger brother Jean-Claude and another Liberal powerbroker Christian Ellis asked Sydney businessman and Liberal Party member Fritz Mare for $50,000 for help in a campaign to unseat longtime federal Liberal MP Alex Hawke in an alleged attempt at branch stacking.

NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet said he had not called or made contact with his brothers. Picture: NCA NewsWire/ Tim Hunter

On Thursday, Mr Perrottet dodged questions around the whereabouts of Jean-Claude and confirmed he had not spoken to, heard from or contacted his brothers.

After being repeatedly grilled over his brother’s whereabouts, tensions boiled over when the Premier told reporters: “Leave my family out of it. I’m here elected to represent the people of NSW. The Labor Party are playing silly games with my family.

“Ray Williams never raised issues with my siblings in the parliament.

“He did not, so leave my family out of it.”

Mr Williams sparked the inquiry in 2022 after the Liberal MP used parliamentary privilege to claim that senior Liberal Party members had been “supported financially” by developer Jean Nassif to install councillors who would help push through development applications.

Later in the press conference, Mr Perrottet accused the NSW Labor Party of “playing political games” and “running an inquiry attacking family members”.

“We are focused on ensuring we deliver our long-term economic plan to keep NSW moving forward,” Mr Perrottet said.

“If Labor have nothing better to do than sit around in the upper house, play politics to throw mud and sneer, that’s a matter for them.”

The inquiry has attempted to contact Dominic Perrottet’s brother Charles. Picture: Supplied

Jean-Claude and Mr Ellis are two of four witnesses whom the inquiry has attempted to summon. The others are Mr Ellis’ mother and Hills Shire councillor Virginia Ellis, and another younger brother of Mr Perrottet, Charles.

Because of the difficulties, the inquiry resorted to hiring “professional process servers”, a move that Labor committee member Penny Sharpe called “unprecedented”.

“The issuing of a summons under the parliamentary Evidence Act is a very serious matter and isn’t done lightly,” the Labor upper house leader said.

When asked whether the inquiry had elements of “political mudslinging,” Ms Sharpe rejected the claims.

“We believe these allegations are very serious. We believe people need to understand what’s going on here. We need to get to the bottom of it,” she added.

On Tuesday, committee chair and Greens upper house member Sue Higginson said “multiple attempts” had been made to summon the witnesses.

“The failure to co-operate with this committee demonstrates a blatant disregard of parliamentary process,” she said.

It’s understood Charles Perrottet will not have to front the inquiry because he is not in the state during the hearings.