Senior NSW Liberal MP Damien Tudehope has conceded that he leaked a confidential draft report from a parliamentary inquiry to a key witness who deliberately avoided giving evidence, in a stunning revelation that could threaten the party elder’s political future.

The shock evidence before the Independent Commission Against Corruption will intensify pressure on NSW Liberal leader Kellie Sloane, who has repeatedly described Tudehope as a man of integrity and only hours before his bombshell revelation insisted that the right-wing MP could make a return to her frontbench.

Tudehope, then the Coalition government’s most senior member of the upper house, sent the 2023 confidential report into illegal donations and the Hills Shire Council to lobbyist and Liberal Party operative Jeremy Greenwood, the Independent Commission Against Corruption heard on Tuesday.

Greenwood was one of four Liberal apparatchiks who hid or fled overseas to avoid being handed a summons to appear before the parliamentary inquiry, which was one of the catalysts for the broader ICAC probe.

Leaking a draft NSW parliament committee report before it is formally tabled can be a contempt of parliament, carrying potential punishments including formal reprimands or suspension from parliament.

Tudehope also confirmed that then premier Dominic Perrottet told him that his brother Jean-Claude, who was one of the four summoned to appear, was in Fiji. Dwyer has said that Claude stayed in Fiji for the duration of that inquiry. Perrottet was pressed during the 2023 election campaign on the whereabouts of his brothers.

While initially denying having seen the report, the ICAC heard evidence late in the afternoon that Tudehope conceded he was in contact with Greenwood and leaked him a copy of the draft findings, knowing it was meant to stay confidential.

“I thought that he had would have had an interest in that report,” Tudehope said.

The former finance minister has stood aside from Sloane’s frontbench, pending the ICAC inquiry, but is not a person of interest. Tudehope is up for preselection before next year’s state election.

Tudehope earlier told the corruption hearing that ensuring party membership numbers stay strong in branches is crucial for an MP’s political survival, and he described Liberal operative Jean-Claude Perrottet as having a talent for keeping members signed up.

Tudehope was asked about membership renewals and recruitment as the inquiry probes illegal donations to the Liberal Party.

Tudehope, who told the commission he has had a “love-hate relationship with the Liberal Party” since he first signed up in the 1970s, rejoined again in 2008 and has remained a member since.

He was elected to parliament in 2015. He is not accused of any wrongdoing in this ICAC inquiry.

The senior MP was asked about his relationship with the Perrottet family, including Dominic Perrottet.

Counsel assisting Dr Peggy Dwyer, SC, asked Tudehope: “You and Dom Perrottet have been close colleagues and friends for many years?” Tudehope responded: “I’ve known Dom all his life.” He also said that one of his sons was friends with another Perrottet brother, Charles.

Tudehope was then asked about employing Jean-Claude Perrottet, the youngest Perrottet brother, in his ministerial and parliamentary office. Tudehope acknowledged that Jean-Claude was particularly good at encouraging members to join the Liberal Party and renewing their membership.

“Jean-Claude had a talent for that sort of thing,” Tudehope told the commission.

Earlier on Tuesday, Kellie Sloane conceded she doesn’t know whether she’ll lose more frontbenchers due to allegations of developer-funded branch stacking within the party heard by the ICAC.

With almost seven weeks to run in Operation Rosny, Sloane admitted she couldn’t be sure there wouldn’t be more resignations from her shadow ministry.

“I just don’t know the outcome,” she said. “I’m not going to pre-empt anything. I’m not going to stand here and pretend I know what’s coming. I don’t. This happened before my time.”

In her first press conference since Operation Rosny began, Sloane also refused to back federal Liberal Party president Tony Abbott’s criticisms of the anti-corruption watchdog.

On Tuesday morning, the commission heard retired Sydney businessman and NSW Liberal member Frits Mare was asked to hand over $50,000 to fund a call centre to stack branches with the goal of unseating federal MP Alex Hawke.

Mare detailed a meeting he had with Reformers members Christian Ellis and Jean-Claude Perrottet.

Mare told the commission about a meeting with Perrottet and Ellis in which they asked for $50,000 to unseat Hawke from the federal seat of Mitchell.

He recalled that Ellis told him they wanted to set up a call centre to recruit younger people into the Liberal Party with the goal of getting enough members to vote out Hawke. Hawke was a factional enemy of the Reformers, the religious right-wing group at the core of this inquiry.

Ellis told Mare they needed $50,000 to set up the call centre.

“I said that’s a lot of money, have you done a budget to work out how it’s going to be spent,” Mare told the commission.

Ellis had not devised a budget. He said they would need to pay people to staff the call centre, which Mare said was surprising because in his mind recruitment was usually done voluntarily.

Mare never paid any money and said he did not want to get involved in factional issues.

Text messages and records of unanswered phone calls from Perrottet were read to the commission, but Mare said he often did not reply.

“I had no interest in getting involved in factional issues,” Mare said. “I’d say 95 per cent is one-way traffic from him to me.”

Further reading

Here are some of the highlights from our coverage so far.