Federal Opposition Leader Angus Taylor has denied he made a $10,000 political donation to a conservative faction under the microscope at a corruption inquiry.
Alleged illicit political donations and branch-stacking for the Liberal Party in NSW are being investigated by the Independent Commission Against Corruption.
A specific text message by former Catholic Schools NSW boss Dallas McInerney to his factional ally Mr Taylor on the party's far-right has been pointed to as damning evidence of breaching electoral funding laws.
"I want to shake down Angus for 10K," Mr McInerney wrote in a March 2021 message.
Mr Taylor was again grilled on the contents of the text at a press conference in Canberra.
"No payment was made. I was clear about that from the start," a visibly frustrated Mr Taylor told reporters on Thursday.
With cameras still rolling after the press conference, Mr Taylor's media director could be heard rebuking the journalist who asked the question.
"Are your ratings that bad? Seriously, that's a fricking disgrace.
"He's answered them (ICAC allegations), like, 500 times."
Mr McInerney, a Liberal Party powerbroker who held political aspirations of becoming a federal senator, also denied the alleged payments were to the Reformers - a breakaway Christian conservative bloc.
Counsel assisting Juliet Curtin pressed Mr McInerney about his phrasing to Mr Taylor.
"Would you agree that 'shakedown' is nomenclature that is of a perhaps pejorative tone?," she asked on Thursday.
Mr McInerney replied: "No it wasn't intended as such - it's a turn of phrase."
He said the sum was intended for campaigns for delegates contesting internal party elections.
The probe is delving into how the Reformers solicited donations from various figures to influence politics breaching electoral funding laws in the process.
Another WhatsApp message in a group chat among Reformers showed Mr McInerney claiming he had secured a $15,000 payment and monthly donations of $3000 from Mr Taylor.
When asked by Ms Curtin about the texts written by his underling Dylan Whitelaw, he said the junior staffer had lied and boasted.
Mr McInerney was also at pains to distance himself from the Reformers, describing the politically ambitious group as "spectacularly unsuccessful".
Catholic Schools NSW, representing some 270,000 students and nearly 600 schools, receives more than $3.5 billion in combined federal and state taxpayer funds annually and has been repeatedly brought up in the probe.
It has been in the crosshairs of the inquiry for its staffers, who worked for state and federal Liberal MPs, engaging in explicit factional work.
Meanwhile, NSW Opposition Leader Kellie Sloane has removed frontbencher Chris Rath as her representative on the party’s state executive.
It comes after revelations he tipped off lobbyist Jeremy Greenwood to evade being served a summons in order to avoid appearing before a 2023 parliamentary inquiry into the same matters.
