The New South Wales government’s senior trade commissioner in London was recruited after being “added to the process late” and believed he had an “elevated status” that saw him threaten to “go to” the premier, Dominic Perrottet, during contract negotiations, an inquiry has heard.
In a day of explosive evidence to the inquiry investigating John Barilaro’s controversial appointment to a New York trade commissioner job, the chief executive of Investment NSW, Amy Brown, also revealed newly resigned deputy Liberal party leader, Stuart Ayres, told her the former deputy premier’s appointment was “good to go” after a meeting of senior ministers.
Brown’s evidence came after Perrottet revealed on Wednesday that Ayres would stand aside from cabinet and as deputy Liberal party leader while he is investigated for a possible breach of the ministerial code of conduct over the role.
Perrottet said a draft excerpt from a different review had raised questions about Ayres role in the process. Ayres denies any wrongdoing but said he was standing aside while the investigation was conducted.
Brown also told the inquiry about the appointment of the former head of the NSW Business Chamber, Stephen Cartwright, as London agent general, a trade commissioner role. Brown said she was not involved in the selection process but understood the appointment came after another candidate had already been identified but was not deemed suitable.
“They had a first go at the interviewing and shortlisting process and there was a front-running candidate, [but] a view was taken that that person was not acceptable for the agent general role,” Brown told the inquiry on Wednesday.
Instead, she said, Cartwright’s name was “added to the process late after interviews [had been] conducted”.
Brown said NSW Treasury department began the recruitment process, which only became her responsibility when the contract was being negotiated.
“If things were getting too difficult [Cartwright] seemed to find it a bit of a go-to statement to say he would go to the deputy premier or the premier,” she said.
“When negotiations got difficult … he said ‘well I’ll just elevate this to the deputy premier or the premier.’”
Brown later clarified that the comment was made during a meeting in late October, after Barilaro’s resignation, and that Cartwright had said he would threaten to “go to” Perrottet.
Brown said she was never contacted by Perrottet or his office over the matter, but the appointment will raise new questions about the process behind appointing the senior trade roles.
Cartwright was announced as the London agent general in October last year, on the day that Gladys Berejiklian resigned as premier.
Perrottet and Barilaro were present at the announcement, made while contract negotiations were still under way.
Brown told the inquiry there was “contention around the interpretation of the contract”, so it was “still live”.
Perrottet has been contacted for comment.
During the hearing Brown also revealed Ayres told her he had raised Barilaro’s appointment with senior ministers at a strategy meeting and was told it was “good to go”.
Brown, who had earlier said she was “nervous” about the appointment, said that had been her “final check” before offering him the position.
“If Mr Ayres had informed me [that it was] a particularly controversial [decision] or caused material negative reaction among his colleagues, that would then have some level of influence on my ability to make that decision,” she told the inquiry.
She also sought advice from the head of the Department of Premier and Cabinet, Michael Coutts-Trotter, over Barilaro’s appointment and “suggested” he raise it with Perrottet.
When she later asked Coutts-Trotter if any concerns had been raised she said he “shrugged and said no”.
“It was more, I’m not going to tell you anything to stop it going ahead,” she said.
“As though he was resigned to it.”
Earlier in the hearing Brown said Ayres had offered an “informal” reference for Barilaro, and told her the former deputy premier “could be quite good” in the New York trade role.
Brown told the inquiry she had “multiple” conversations with Ayres about Barilaro’s application for the job, including at a meeting in January in which the minister gave a positive appraisal of his suitability for the job.
“I gave him a heads up that Mr Barilaro had indeed applied and he said, ‘Given he has been the trade minister I would suspect he would have relevant experience to represent the NSW government,’” Brown told the inquiry.
“The sentiment of it was John Barilaro would have some attributes, positive attributes, that are relevant to the role.”
Brown revealed during the hearing that when Ayres took over as trade minister after Barilaro’s resignation in October, he told her that he did not want to hire Jenny West, who was first offered the position last year before being told in October that she would not get it. A second round of recruitment then began.
Ayres has insisted he did not play a decision-making role in the recruitment of Barilaro to the New York position and says the decision was Brown’s alone, despite a series of revelations showing the minister had asked Brown to add a name – which was not Barilaro’s – to the shortlist for the role.
After weeks of denials from the government, Perrottet intervened on Wednesday after a draft excerpt from a separate review had raised questions about whether Ayres might have breached the ministerial code of conduct because of his involvement in the process.
On Wednesday Brown told the inquiry she did not believe that Ayres had been at “arms length” from the hiring process.
“There were multiple intersection points throughout,” she said.
She had earlier told the inquiry that she felt the recruitment for the trade role “was ultimately mine to make”.
Barilaro walked away from the role less than two weeks after his appointment was announced in June, saying it had become untenable and a “distraction” due to media attention. He has said that he “always maintained that I followed the process”.
