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AAP
AAP
Politics
Luke Costin

NSW inquiry resumes amid search for Liberal trio

Two brothers of NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet are refusing to appear before a parliamentary inquiry. (Dean Lewins/AAP PHOTOS) (AAP)

A trio of Liberal members remain out of the reach of a NSW parliamentary inquiry set to resume hearing evidence.

Former Liberal state executive member Christian Ellis, his mother Hills Shire councillor Virginia Ellis and Jean-Claude Perrottet, the younger brother of NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet, have gone to ground after being sought as witnesses for the inquiry established in December.

The parliamentary committee behind the inquiry has resorted to employing and sending process servers on a 2000km hunt around Sydney and southern NSW for the trio - a step dubbed unprecedented by Labor MP Penny Sharpe.

Liberal MP Robyn Preston, who employs Cr Ellis in her office, has also been asked to help find her.

"We believe she could provide information relevant to the inquiry terms of reference," committee chair Sue Higginson told Ms Preston.

Another of the premier's brothers on Monday declined to give evidence in the "Labor/Greens circus".

"I reserve my position in relation to the partisan, ill-informed, speculative and defamatory commentary, including statements to the press, and 'media releases', by some committee members," Charles Perrottet told the committee via email.

The probe was launched after Liberal MP Ray Williams used parliamentary privilege in June to allege several senior party members had been paid to install councillors onto the Hills Shire Council to be friendly to developer Jean Nassif.

Mr Nassif, the boss of Toplace, has been offered the chance to appear as a witness on Thursday via video link.

But he was warned being outside NSW meant parliamentary privilege over his evidence would not automatically apply.

Alan Haselden is the only person listed to appear before the inquiry on Thursday.

Mr Haselden is a former Liberal councillor on the Hills Shire Council, who served on council from 2012 to 2019, according to his LinkedIn profile

Businessman Frits Mare told the inquiry last week Jean-Claude Perrottet, now 26, and Mr Ellis asked him for $50,000 in 2019 to help "get rid of (federal Liberal MP) Alex Hawke, stack his seat".

The premier says the inquiry is a political hatchet job cooked up by Labor to smear him in the lead-up to next month's election.

Documents released by the committee on Wednesday showed Hills Shire Council general manager Michael Edgar provided Cr Ellis's contact details to assist the inquiry's search.

The committee also released letters from process servers engaged to find Mr Ellis and his mother, detailing a trip to southern NSW properties in which a woman purporting to be his wife answered the door.

She denied knowing where he was and "appeared nervous and evasive in the answers towards the agent", the process service agency said.

Nine other attempts to locate the trio were detailed in the letters.

The committee had previously been in contact with Mr Ellis and Jean-Claude Perrottet in January.

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