The NSW Liberal MP whose 690-word speech sparked the corruption watchdog’s investigation into his own party says he would pay the price of whistleblowing again as he announced he will exit politics at the 2027 election.
In announcing his resignation, Ray Williams acknowledged the personal toll of exposing allegations of impropriety within his own party. His sole motivation in making the “unpleasant decision” was to ensure the Liberal Party upheld the “highest standards possible”.
“I want to make it clear that at no time have my actions been motivated by any malice or personal agenda. In fact, I knew that I would be shunned as most whistleblowers are, right or wrong. I happened to be right and more so than I initially understood,” the Kellyville MP wrote.
“There is no place for corruption in any organisation including my own. However, the sad reality is that in Australia, as a whistleblower, career opportunities quickly disappear and people choose not to associate themselves with you.”
The veteran MP wrote that regardless of that, he would “do it all again if ever I was faced with the choice of doing the right thing on behalf of my party and my community”.
The statement, which circulated among Liberal MPs on Tuesday afternoon and obtained by the Herald, is expected to be formally released on Wednesday morning.
In a parliamentary speech in 2022, Williams detailed his concerns about “undemocratic political processes” within the Liberal Party, questioning how popularly elected mayor Michelle Byrne and six sitting Liberal councillors were replaced by the Liberals’ state executive “without the usual preselection processes normally afforded to such positions”.
The backbencher alleged Christian Ellis and other senior members of the party “were paid significant funds” to install new councillors on The Hills Shire Council who would support property developer Jean Nassif future development applications.
Then-Liberal premier Dominic Perrottet referred Williams’ claims to the Independent Commission Against Corruption the next morning.
The allegations sparked the corruption watchdog’s high-profile Operation Rosny probe which finished public hearings in late September. Presiding commissioner Fabian Gleeson, SC, has 180 days after final submissions to hand down his findings from the blockbuster corruption inquiry.
William’s exit leaves Byrne as the early frontrunner to succeed him in his northwestern Sydney electorate, said a Liberal source on the condition of anonymity so they could speak freely.
With Australia’s migration settings facing severe political pressure, the former state multiculturalism minister said he dedicated himself to “ensuring everyone who called NSW home and did the right thing, was treated equally and respectfully”.
“Sydney can be proud that we have integrated more people from cultural backgrounds more successfully than any other city in Australia,” he wrote.
Williams joins Liberal James Griffin, Alister Henskens and Mark Taylor as the party MPs who will exit politics in March next year.
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