Former New South Wales deputy premier John Barilaro has started working with Sydney property developer Coronation Property, just weeks after leaving parliament.
The company, which said it had $1.4bn worth of projects under way, and a further $5bn in the pipeline, will employ Barilaro as its executive director.
The appointment was revealed after the NSW parliament’s ethics adviser, John Evans, tabled his advice on the appointment to parliament on Thursday.
The letter said Barilaro had advised the office that he had accepted the role of executive director with “responsibilities across all aspects of the business”.
Barilaro also advised that “there may be some level of engagement with both state and local government” in the role.
Although Coronation mostly does work in the private sector, Evans said the company has some unspecified work from the state government.
Parliamentarians must seek advice if they intend to undertake employment within 18 months of leaving office.
Evans has approved Barilaro taking the job but imposed conditions that he must not use information acquired in the course of being a minister or through his attendance at cabinet. Barilaro is also barred from communicating any of that information to a third party for financial gain.
A further condition has been imposed that for 18 months from his last day in ministerial office, Barilaro “should not become personally involved in lobbying government officials, on behalf of Coronation in relation to [his] portfolio responsibilities held during the last two years of ministerial office”.
Barilaro’s new job follows news that former premier Gladys Berejiklian has taken an executive position with telecommunications company Optus.
However unlike telecommunications, which is regulated by the federal government, regulation of property development is entirely the province of the state and local government.
The involvement of the state government extends beyond policy matters to decisions on zonings and approvals of major projects, though some of the more contentious approvals are now sent to the Independent Planning Commission for assessments which are made public.
This followed a decade of scandals under the previous Labor government over the state government “calling in” projects where they hit resistance from local communities and pushing them through. Donation laws were also overhauled after concerns were raised about the influence of donors in the property industry on state government decisions.
The state government is also a major property owner in the state.
Coronation’s current developments include a terrace house development in Ashbury, a $52m apartment block in the CBD of Parramatta and an 850-unit development over five buildings in Merrylands.
Coronation recently also completed the redevelopment of the old paper mill site on the Georges River at Liverpool. It includes retail areas and 882 apartments.
The development of Liverpool took off after the state government lifted the height restrictions in the area in 2015, allowing for a major transformation of the centre.
Coronation Property is owned by John Landerer, a well-known lawyer and Sydney businessman, and Joe Nahas, who has been in the property industry for 20 years.
Last week Landerer sold his Vaucluse mansion for a reported $62m, making it the sixth most expensive sale in the country.
Comment has been sought from Barilaro and Coronation.
