Staff inside the then-deputy premier John Barilaro’s office were seeking advice on whether the controversial trade positions now at the centre of a New South Wales probe could be appointed by the minister as early as July last year.
Emails given to the upper house inquiry into Barilaro’s now-abandoned appointment to a $500,000-a-year New York job show a staff member in his office had asked a senior public servant about the process of filling the trade positions on 2 July 2021.
