Dana Williams will become COO of Steadfast tomorrow following the resignation of Cameron McCullagh last week.

Ms Williams joined the company in January as EGM Acquisitions, having previously worked with the broker group in 2012 to prepare it for its stockmarket listing.

She has worked in broking, insurance, underwriting agency and reinsurance, including with US insurance brokers Hub International and Marsh.

Steadfast says Mr McCullagh “has left to pursue other interests”.

A former MD of Employers Mutual, he joined Steadfast in 2011 and was regarded as a key player in the company’s strategy leading up to its successful public listing last August.

Mr McCullagh was appointed to the Steadfast board in December 2012 but resigned as a director the following March after an article in the Sydney Morning Herald linked him to a controversial $100,000 political donation.

The money was paid from Mr McCullagh’s wife’s private company to MP Richard Torbay, who had arranged a meeting in 2010 between Mr McCullagh and then planning minister Tony Kelly.

The couple wanted to demolish their home, and the minister lifted an interim heritage order placed on it by the local council.

Mr Torbay resigned from the NSW Parliament in March last year after allegations against him were referred to the state’s Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC).

Steadfast CEO Robert Kelly told insuranceNEWS.com.au at that time of Mr McCullagh’s resignation from the board that the decision “was of his own volition” and he retained the full support of the company’s directors. 

He said Mr McCullagh would not rejoin the Steadfast board “until the matter is cleared up and his position is clarified”.

insuranceNEWS.com.au understands an ICAC investigation of Mr Torbay is “still operational”, but 15 months after allegations were made against the former MP no date has been set for a hearing.