Memory failure, shakedowns and the ICAC trap: Liberal staffer’s long day in the box

July 29, 2026 — 5:00am

You have reached your maximum number of saved items.

Remove items from your saved list to add more.

The tide line of the plastic water bottle steadily diminished as Dylan Whitelaw took a sip almost every time he said, “I don’t recall,” “not that I’m aware of” or “I can’t remember the specifics”.

The 25-year-old former Liberal Party staffer had rebuttoned his navy suit jacket when he stood to accept a Bible and swore an oath to tell the truth before the Independent Commission Against Corruption hearings on Tuesday.

Almost immediately, Whitelaw was warned by counsel assisting the inquiry, Juliet Curtin, “to think carefully” about his evidence.

This was in response to Whitelaw’s offering that it was a “great shock” to learn from Monday’s opening address that money was going from Catholic Schools NSW (where he had worked) to Beckington, a lobbying group (where he also worked).

The........

© The Sydney Morning Herald