A parliamentary committee has found former deputy premier John Barilaro "inappropriately" interfered with the recruitment process for a highly paid trade commissioner job.
The New South Wales upper house Public Accountability Committee investigated the appointment of Stephen Cartwright to the $600,000-a-year agent general UK role in 2021, after it was revealed he was not the first pick for the job.
The inquiry heard from several witnesses including Stephen Cartwright, a former NSW Business Chamber CEO, who said he had not considered the lucrative trade role until Mr Barilaro mentioned it over coffee.
The committee, led by Greens MLC Cate Faehrmann, has released a final report with six findings, including that Mr Barilaro showed "poor judgement", and the government "lacked integrity and transparency" in its recruitment processes.
"The committee also found that Mr Cartwright repeatedly and inappropriately applied pressure to senior public servants to improve his personal remuneration," Ms Faehrmann said.
The report found an external recruitment panel had identified Paul Webster as their preferred candidate in December 2020.
Mr Cartwright told public hearings he was taken by "complete surprise" when Mr Barilaro mentioned the role over coffee on February 17, 2021.
He said Mr Barilaro told him he and then-treasurer Dominic Perrottet had "reached an agreement that the cost of suitable family accommodation (including cleaning etc)" could be covered by the NSW government.
After consulting his wife, Mr Cartwright applied for the job and was appointed in July of that year.
"While the committee accepts the evidence that Mr Cartwright subsequently took part in a merit-based selection process, the timing and circumstances of his entry to the recruitment round was influenced by the deputy premier's introduction," the report said.
Premier Dominic Perrottet said the report was a "political game" from a Greens- and Labor-stacked committee.
It is the second report released by the committee into trade role appointments by the NSW government.
In its interim report, the committee found Mr Barilaro's appointment to the New York trade position was a "jobs for the boys" situation.
An independent investigation into that appointment — by former public servant Graeme Head — found Mr Barilaro's appointment was "not at arm's length" from government but did not make any findings against the then-deputy premier.
But the government has not commissioned an independent investigation into the selection process for the UK role.
Labor's Daniel Moohkey MLC, who sat on the committee, said Premier Dominic Perrottet — who was treasurer at the time — still had questions to answer.
"The premier cannot claim independent exoneration when he has done nothing to investigate these particular allegations," Mr Moohkey said.
The agent general UK role was created in 2019 by former premier Gladys Berejiklian to further NSW's business interests in the UK.
