NSW shadow upper house leader steps aside during Icac Liberals inquiry – as it happened

Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcast The leader of the opposition in the NSW upper house, Damien Tudehope, has stepped aside for the duration of a watchdog inquiry into allegations of Liberal corruption after revealing he has been called as a witness. As we reported on Wednesday, the Independent Commission against Corruption (Icac) has announced it will hold a wide-ranging public inquiry from 27 July into allegations, including that Liberal figures “solicited or accepted” illegal donations to recruit or renew members to the party – a practice known as branch stacking. In a statement this afternoon, Tudehope, the shadow attorney general and most senior Liberal in the NSW upper house, said the opposition leader, Kellie Sloane, had accepted his offer to step aside during the public inquiry which “involves several people with whom I have had close relations during my political career”. double quotation markThere is no suggestion of any wrongdoing by myself nor am I under investigation. However, as I have been called as a witness to the inquiry, something I am more than happy to comply with, I am concerned that, while the public hearings are under way my