NSW Prime Minister Dominic Perrottet says John Barilaro told him he intended to apply for the post of U.S. trade commissioner in a “social environment” after the former deputy prime minister left parliament.
Perrottet confirmed Tuesday that he knew of Barilaro’s ambition for the $ 500,000-a-year role before the application process, but did not remember when it was.
Dominic Perrottet and John Barilaro. Credits: Brook Mitchell, Jessica Hromas
He said that later the Minister of Commerce, Stuart Ayres, warned him that Barilaro had applied for the post, which was one of the six posts of commercial commissioner that Barilaro created as Minister of Commerce, but insisted that it was a process independent in which the government could play no role.
“I think in a social setting I could have said I was applying for a place, which was an independent process,” Perrottet said. “I talk to people socially all the time and there are always interested people who say I’m interested in this, I’m interested in this.”
“Minister Ayres warned me at some point … that he had applied for the post. But that was an independent process in which we should not intervene,” he said.
The positions of commercial commissioner at Investment NSW have been scrutinized since Barilaro’s controversial appointment to the US this month.
The decision to appoint Barilaro, who resigned from parliament on December 30, was not tabled in the cabinet, outraging Liberal ministers and MPs. Perrottet has said it would have been inappropriate for the post to be considered by the cabinet because it was not a ministerial appointment.
Former NSW Deputy Investment Secretary Jenny West had been offered the role, but it was canceled last year. Since then, The Herald has revealed that it contacted the head of the department of Prime Minister and Cabinet Michael Coutts-Trotter in January to worry about how the process was handled.
Perrottet said she was unaware of West’s handling of the situation or an extensive document in which she raised concerns with her department.