Cults, setups and rumours: years after their downfalls, former NSW Liberal MPs are exacting revenge

David Elliott and Eleni Petinos believe they were brought down by their own party. The Icac hearing has given them a chance to set the record straight Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcast Revenge, they say, is a dish best served cold. It’s been almost four years since the former New South Wales MP, David Elliott, announced that he would not seek preselection for a seat in the Hills in greater Sydney after his own seat was abolished. He had realised that, thanks to branch stacking in his area, he stood no chance of securing another. Despite being a senior minister for eight years in the Baird, Berejiklian and Perrottet Liberal governments, Elliott’s political career was over. Sure, he’d been a somewhat colourful character – he’d attracted his fair share of publicity, good and bad. But, as one former colleague put it: “It was hard not to like him.” Since his departure at the 2023 election, Elliott has discovered the full scale of bastardry that was directed against him to end his career. The Independent Commission Against Corruption is investigating allegations of illegal secret donations from property developers and others that were used to fund branch-stackin