The man appointed by the New South Wales government to a senior London trade role approved negative television ads that targeted a Labor business tax policy at the last state election in his previous job as head of the NSW Business Chamber.
Separately, a NSW parliamentary inquiry heard testimony this week that the NSW agent general to the UK, Stephen Cartwright, went over the head of his manager, Investment NSW chief Amy Brown, and messaged Liberal trade minister Stuart Ayres directly in a dispute about a cost of living allowance.
Cartwright also allegedly threatened to “go to” the premier, Dominic Perrottet, during a drawn out negotiation over his salary after he was announced in the role on 1 October despite the fact a contract remained unsigned.
While the inquiry was set up to probe the appointment of the former deputy premier John Barilaro to a trade role in New York, Labor is now pushing to widen its remit to all six new trade roles created by the Coalition, with the London appointment coming under increased scrutiny during hearings.
On Monday, Brown said that after taking over negotiations with Cartwright in mid-2021, he had been given what she described as “unrealistic” pay expectations amounting to an overall package of about $800,000.
She said the premier’s chief of staff, Bran Black, later gave his “strong opinion” that the package would be “worth it”. The salary, which did not eventuate, would have made Cartwright the second-highest paid public servant in NSW.
Black has denied Brown’s recollection of the conversation, saying he “was clear that $800,000 was an unreasonable request”.
Prior to his appointment as the London trade envoy last year, Cartwright headed the NSW Business Chamber for 11 years.
He was chief executive at the time of the organisation’s “Keeping NSW Number One” campaign in the lead-up to the 2019 state poll, in which Gladys Berejiklian was re-elected as premier.
Electoral funding disclosures show the broad campaign cost more than $500,000, including $63,000 spent with digital strategy agency Topham Guerin, which was also being used by the state Liberal party during the election.
But it was television ads targeting Labor’s payroll tax threshold in three marginal seats across the state’s north – Tweed, Lismore and Ballina, which were all contested by the Nationals for the Coalition – that were considered unusual at the time for their partisan stance.
Cartwright was quoted telling the Daily Telegraph at the time: “The NSW Business Chamber is a fiercely nonpartisan organisation and we have been since 1825, but we do shine a light on good and bad policy and its impact on the broader community.
“This is the first time we’ve undertaken a television advertising campaign of this kind.”
The ads compared Labor’s refusal to match the Coalition’s payroll tax concessions to other taxes used to reduce gambling, drinking and smoking.
“When NSW Labor says they’ll tax small and family businesses more for hiring extra staff, what do they think will happen next?” a voiceover on the ad stated.
A spokesperson for the chamber, which has since rebranded as Business NSW, confirmed in a statement that Cartwright signed off on the group’s 2019 campaign.
“The 2019 campaign was approved by the then CEO,” the spokesperson said.
In a statement responding to Guardian Australia questions, Cartwright acknowledged he was “across all materials produced” for the campaign, but said he “did not have the authority to approve the funding” as the chamber’s head.
“Campaign messaging and materials presented as part of any pre-election campaign run by the NSW Business Chamber were always developed by the chamber’s policy staff, which included significant input from chamber members, and funding for every campaign was approved by the chamber’s board,” he said.
“As CEO, I was not the authorising officer responsible for the conduct of the campaign, and I did not have the authority to approve the funding for the campaign, however I was naturally across all materials produced.
“The 2019 pre-election platform of both major parties differed significantly on a major issue of concern for our members, which was the potential rise in state payroll tax. The chamber will always advocate without fear or favour for its members, and this is as it should be.”
The Keeping NSW Number One campaign was not solely targeted at Labor’s payroll tax, and a spokesperson for the chamber pointed out that it “conducted pre-election activities” with both sides of politics.
In previous comments, Cartwright has boasted that the success of the campaign “cannot be underestimated”.
“We set about using social media and digital marketing tools with a more powerful reach, targeted at voters in seats where the outcome of the election would be determined,” he wrote in the chamber’s 2019 annual report.
“As a result, we had a great deal of success in bringing important business issues to the top of the agenda, where they belong.”
Brown last week told the upper house inquiry that during hiring for the London role Cartwright was “added to the process late” after another “front-running candidate” was deemed “not acceptable”.
She said Cartwright had been “recommended into the process” by the then Treasury secretary Mike Pratt.
In a statement, Cartwright did not respond directly to questions about Brown’s evidence, but told the Guardian he had “never been a member of or affiliated with any political party”.
