What has happened since then?
Barilaro announced on June 30 – after the first day of public hearings in the investigation – that he would not take the lead position because it had become a distraction. However, he assured that he had “followed the process”.
In the early weeks of the saga, Perrottet and then-Trade Minister Stuart Ayres emphasized that government agency Investment NSW, led by chief executive Amy Brown, led the recruitment process and the decision to appoint Barilaro was take public service, not government. .
However, Ayres resigned last week after an early version of the Head report raised questions about the extent of his involvement. Perrottet has now commissioned an independent investigation into whether Ayres breached the ministerial code of conduct.
Meanwhile, the parliamentary inquiry has taken place over seven days of hearings, focusing on…
Four key chapters
1. The first hiring process: Brown, his then boss, on August 12 of last year, Brown, his then boss, “verbally offered the role” of New York Trade Commissioner Jenny West . Then-Prime Minister Gladys Berejiklian, Barilaro, Perrottet and Ayres received briefing notes saying West had been identified as the successful candidate.
However, Brown said the government ordered him to stop hiring because of a change in policy. That instruction was received on or about September 27 and Brown said it “would have gone through” the office of the responsible minister, who was Barilaro. Brown said he officially told West on Oct. 1 that his appointment would not continue.
West said Brown told him the role would be “a gift for someone.” (Brown later denied this.) In November, West was told her role as under-secretary at Investment NSW had been terminated. He received 38 weeks’ pay as redundancy pay.
Brown later defended his decision, saying West’s termination was related to “performance issues.”
Former Investments NSW assistant secretary Jenny West appeared at the NSW upper house inquiry into the appointment of former National Party boss John Barilaro to a New York trade job. Credit: Nick Moir
2. The cabinet presentation: Barilaro began raising questions about the trade commissioner appointment processes in June last year, according to his former chief of staff Siobhan Hamblin. This would give ministers the power to appoint positions, rather than the public service.
Former Barilaro adviser Joseph Brayford said Barilaro sent him a rare text message asking for a cabinet minute on the policy to be prepared “as soon as possible” in September last year.
The proposal was then approved by the cabinet in about 10 days (it usually takes weeks) and came a week before his resignation from parliament. (However, it was never enacted).
Labor has questioned the chronology of these events, which is as follows:
- September 10: Barilaro gives private evidence to the ICAC about then Prime Minister Gladys Berejiklian
- September 16: Barilaro presents cabinet submission to change the process of appointing trade roles to ministerial decisions
- September 24: Barilaro, in court documents filed in his defamation case against Google and YouTuber Friendlyjordies, says he intends to resign
- September 27: The cabinet accepts Barilaro’s presentation
- October 1: Berejiklian resigns
- October 4: Barilaro resigns
Barilaro denied trying to speed up the filing when he testified last week. “There was no rush… I was pleasantly surprised that they turned to [cabinet submission] so fast,” he said. He insisted he had no idea Berejiklian would resign in October, despite having given a private interview to ICAC several weeks earlier.
3. The New York paper ad: Ayres texted Barilaro an ad for the second round of recruitment for the New York paper when it appeared in The Australian Financial Review on 17 December. Barilaro’s girlfriend and former employee, Jennifer Lugsdin, was working as a media adviser at Investment NSW at the time.
Email chains show that Lugsdin knew Ayres wanted to re-advertise the New York role by correspondence dated December 10, a week before the role was advertised. This has raised questions about Barilaro’s knowledge of the process.
Brown said there were no records of Lugsdin making a conflict of interest declaration about his relationship when he moved to the agency on a short-term contract.
Barilaro said he discussed his intention to apply for the job with Perrottet, Ayres and Treasurer Matt Kean. “At no time did anyone raise any concerns about my application for this position,” he said.
4. The second hiring process: Barilaro applied for the job in New York on January 19. Days later, Ayres told Brown that the former deputy prime minister would be a suitable candidate for the position. Brown confirmed a short list for interviews in February with input from Ayres.
Kylie Bell, Managing Director of Investment NSW. Credit: Kate Geraghty
Two candidates emerged as favorites after a panel interview: Barilaro and global executive Kimberley Cole.
Brown said Ayres gave Barilaro an informal referral. The former deputy premier also received references from NSW Department of Regional Secretary Gary Barnes, former Liberal MP and US Ambassador Arthur Sinodinos, and former NSW Liberal Premier Barry O’Farrell, now the high commissioner of India.
Cole also received glowing references, but Investment NSW managing director Kylie Bell said she did not have enough experience in the US market or in NSW to be suitable for the New York role. Brown said Cole did not impress during a 12-minute Microsoft Teams meeting with Ayres.
Barilaro then emerged as the favourite. Brown told the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet Secretary Michael Coutts-Trotter in April that she was nervous about the appointment. Ayres later told him there was no problem with his colleagues.
“If I had known on June 15, what I know now, I would not have endorsed the report,” Kathrina Lo told the inquiry on Friday. Credit: Kate Geraghty
Investment NSW managing director Kylie Bell told Barilaro she got the job via text message on May 23. Barilaro signed the contract on June 9. The other two members of the hiring panel, Public Service Commissioner Kathrina Lo and businessman Warwick Smith, were not asked. that Barilaro be the preferred candidate until June 15.
Brown signed the contract on June 16 and the appointment was announced the following day.
Both Lo and Smith have since said they would not have approved the panel’s final selection report in retrospect.
Lo said he was concerned about “the degree of ministerial involvement, including contributing to the shortlist and providing an informal reference”, as well as the treatment of the third-placed candidate. He said he felt she might have been used as political cover by the recruiting firm or Brown.
what happens next
The inquiry is ongoing. Barilaro was due to appear a second time on Friday, but canceled due to poor mental health. He is expected to appear again when he is well enough.
The upper house committee – led by the Labor opposition – has also widened the terms of reference of the inquiry to go beyond Barilaro and investigate more broadly the appointments of trade commissioners.
loading
He made the decision after Brown showed the London-based trade commissioner expected an $800,000 salary and became “threatening” in tense negotiations over his contract and expenses.
Brown told the inquest that London constable Stephen Cartwright invoked the Prime Minister’s name and called for Ayres’ intervention via WhatsApp over concerns about how his pay was structured.