Who had their ICAC legal bills covered?

October 8, 2026 — 5:00am

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With 20 witnesses, thousands of pages of evidence and 38 sitting days over 10 weeks, Operation Rosny was a marathon hearing, even by the NSW Independent Commission Against Corruption’s standards. Amid all the theatre and scandal, it was also a lawyer’s picnic.

Among a steady stream of legal identities filing into the ICAC’s inquiry into allegations of corrupt political donations was high-profile solicitor Bryan Wrench, who was part of lobbyist Jeremy Greenwood’s team when he wasn’t across town defending Alan Jones. Ex-premier Gladys Berejiklian’s barrister partner Arthur Moses appeared for The Hills Shire Council, while Colonel Bruce Levet represented his ex-army colleague and former Liberal police minister David Elliott.

This kind of representation doesn’t come cheap and one might feel sympathy for some – though perhaps not all – of those witnesses now opening their legal bills. However, it turns out not everyone will have to foot their own costs.

Under government rules, ministers and public officials can apply for ex-gratia assistance when they’re required to front up to the ICAC. A freedom of information request by........

© The Sydney Morning Herald