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Ex-NSW deputy premier John Barilaro to testify at probe into New York trade appointment

Anton NilssonNCA NewsWire
Labor MP Daniel Mookhey asked Mr Barilaro about his decision to resign from cabinet. Gaye Gerard / NCA Newswire
Camera IconLabor MP Daniel Mookhey asked Mr Barilaro about his decision to resign from cabinet. Gaye Gerard / NCA Newswire Credit: News Corp Australia

A furious John Barilaro has told a parliamentary hearing it’s “disgusting” to suggest he sought to change the appointment process for a lucrative New York job so that he would be chosen for the role.

The former deputy premier gave evidence on Monday to an inquiry into his appointment as Senior Trade and Investment Commissioner to the Americas, a job he ultimately gave up after his nomination caused public outrage.

Mr Barilaro refuted forcefully suggestions he had used his position as minister to better his own chances to get the job of Senior Trade and Investment Commissioner to the Americas.

He also objected to a set of questions about his girlfriend, a woman who used to work in his office and later took a job with Investment NSW.

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BARILARO INQUIRY
Camera IconJohn Barilaro answered questions for several hours on Monday. Gaye Gerard / NCA Newswire Credit: News Corp Australia

The former state Nationals leader complained the questions were out of line, but opposition MPs pressed on, quizzing Mr Barilaro on whether he had told Investment NSW about the relationship before he recommended her for that job.

Mr Barilaro said that wasn’t necessary because he wasn’t dating the woman while he was minister and deputy premier.

MPs said they would ask more questions about the matter on Friday, when Mr Barilaro is scheduled to return.

The hearing also revealed Mr Barilaro had spoken to several senior ministers about his plans to go for the New York job.

He said Premier Dominic Perrottet told him to “go for it” after he told him about his desire to apply.

Mr Barilaro said the conversation happened at Sydney’s Martin Place in January or early February this year.

He also revealed he had spoken to his successor as trade minister, Stuart Ayres, and Treasurer Matt Kean about the job.

“I also was looking at other options outside of politics at the time, I was looking at options for employment. It was a query in relation to that role. It was that simple,” he said about his conversation with Mr Ayres.

“As I recall, I sought out what the process would be in relation to the (job).”

Mr Barilaro also said Mr Ayres had called him after he quit as minister last week.

BARILARO INQUIRY
Camera IconInvestment NSW chief executive Amy Brown was asked about Mr Barilaro’s girlfriend and about the state’s trade envoy to the UK. Gaye Gerard / NCA Newswire Credit: News Corp Australia

“He indicated that he can’t believe what occurred, but he seems hurt,” Mr Barilaro said.

After answering questions for several hours, Mr Barilaro was replaced in the witness chair by Investment NSW chief executive Amy Brown, who gave testimony for a third time.

She revealed the state’s agent-general in London – the UK equivalent of the job Mr Barilaro sought in New York – had asked for a “ridiculous” paycheck when he was negotiating his contract.

She said Stephen Cartwright, the former chief executive of lobby group Business NSW, had asked for $800,000 to take the job, which would had made him one of the state’s most highly paid public servants.

“I had to deliver some hard messages to the candidate, around some of the conversations that had happened previously weren’t going to turn out to be the reality,” she said.

The committee has plans to expand the probe to look at other trade envoys as well, including the UK agent-general.

Ms Brown also revealed former NSW Labor leader Jodi McKay and former Liberal minister Pru Goward were interviewed for other trade commissioner roles.

Mr Barilaro texted her the numbers for both people and they were interviewed as “late considerations”, but did not get offered a job.

She said she felt no political pressure in regards to those people.

“These are Government Sector Employment Act roles, so I knew that I didn’t have to interview them,” she said.

“But I definitely felt that each of these individuals would be really interesting.”

Singer Robinson in Sydney
Camera IconJohn Barilaro said the fallout from his appointment had created a ‘personal hell’. Gaye Gerard / NCA NewsWire Credit: News Corp Australia

QUESTIONS GET PERSONAL

Labor MPs have asked Mr Barilaro about a former media staffer in his office who later got a job with Investment NSW.

Opposition upper house leader Penny Sharpe said she “wasn’t thrilled” to go into it and that the line of questioning was “uncomfortable”, but proceeded to press Mr Barilaro on whether he had declared any “personal relationship” he had with the woman.

Ms Sharpe indicated the questioning was relevant because, according to emails unearthed by the inquiry, the woman had knowledge of the appointment process through her new role at Investment NSW.

Mr Barilaro, who got divorced shortly after he left parliament, said he had made no such declaration because he didn’t have to.

“I was not in a relationship with her while I was the deputy premier or the trade minister,” he said.

He also complained the question was not within the terms of reference for the inquiry, but MPs pushed ahead anyway.

BARILARO INQUIRY
Camera IconLabor MP Daniel Mookhey asked Mr Barilaro about his decision to resign from cabinet. Gaye Gerard / NCA Newswire Credit: News Corp Australia

Ms Sharpe said MPs would spend more time asking questions about that aspect when Mr Barilaro returns to the witness chair on Friday.

She said the questions would probe “how you came to know about the job and the information that someone you were in a relationship with, who was, (according to) documents, clearly aware about the various processes associated with the advertising and the nature of this position”.

Email chains from December show the woman was involved in planning a media release related to the job hunt.

There is no suggestion the woman did anything wrong.

Ms Brown, the Investment NSW chief executive, was also asked about the woman.

She said Mr Barilaro, while he was still a minister, had told her office the woman was looking for new job opportunities.

“He said that there was a senior media adviser in his office who was looking for new opportunities, that he’d heard through the grapevine that we were building out our media and communications team,” she said.

“I said to him, that is likely to be the case, she’s welcome to … apply for opportunities.”

She said the woman’s relationship with Mr Barilaro wasn’t known until it was brought up in media reports later in the year.

The woman was asked to make a conflict of interest declaration in December.

“But we don’t actually have records of that happening, most likely because we finished up her employment with us on December 22, which was only a number of days after,” she said.

BARILARO INQUIRY
Camera IconMr Barilaro objected to a question about a woman he was in a relationship with. Gaye Gerard / NCA Newswire Credit: News Corp Australia

HEARING HEATS UP

A Labor MP pressed Mr Barilaro on when exactly he decided to quit parliament.

John Graham put to Mr Barilaro that he had told a court, in an unrelated matter, that he had already decided he would leave politics before he made his final cabinet submission on September 27 last year.

The cabinet submission proposed changing the recruitment process for foreign trade roles so that ministers would be in charge instead of public servants.

A few days later, October 1, Gladys Berejiklian announced she would stand down as premier, and Mr Barilaro’s own resignation followed shortly thereafter.

But Mr Barilaro maintained on Monday he hadn’t made a definite decision to quit when the cabinet debated the change.

Mr Barilaro said it was public knowledge he would eventually quit and rejected a suggestion that the other ministers in the cabinet meeting wouldn’t have known about those plans.

“What you’re trying to say is that I was advocating for changing this role to benefit me – no,” Mr Barilaro said.

“I was changing these roles based on leadership meetings, based on the request of some MPs and ministers are based on the aspiration of the government.”

NED-6846-Barilaro-Quotes

The questioning prompted a heated back-and-forth among opposition and government MPs, with several people talking over each other as Mr Barilaro attempted to speak.

Another Labor MP asked Mr Barilaro if he told his colleagues about the decision to quit he referred to in the court document.

“Did you ever convey this new decision to your colleagues as you were discussing to transform the (trade) appointments to ministerial appointments?” Courtney Houssos asked.

“I refute the accusation or suggestion you were making in relation to what was behind my statements,” Mr Barilaro responded.

“That's the first part. The second part is absolutely irrelevant to my colleagues in relation to what I was going to do.”

Yet another Labor MP, Daniel Mookhey, put to Mr Barilaro that he was interviewed on September 10 by the Independent Commission Against Corruption in the same inquiry that prompted Ms Berejiklian to resign.

Mr Mookhey suggested that the ICAC interview would have made Mr Barilaro aware that Ms Berejiklian’s time in parliament may be about to end.

“Are you really honestly telling me the urgency around the cabinet submission wasn’t at all related to the fact that you anticipated that at some point in the future you’re gonna have to resign?” Mr Mookhey asked.

“I will absolutely refute that disgusting slur and accusation,” Mr Barilaro responded.

“I completely refute any allegation or accusation that somehow I fast tracked a cabinet submission in relation to a trade role so that I could apply for it.

“You’re making me out to be corrupt.”

In the end, Mr Barilaro was chosen for the role after a recruitment process led by the public service.

NED-6846-Barilaro-QuotesTHIRD REFEREE REVEALED

Mr Barilaro initially declined to tell the committee the name of one of his referees for the New York job.

But after the committee came back from a lunch break he confirmed the referee was former NSW premier Barry O’Farrell, who currently serves as the High Commissioner to India.

The inquiry has previously heard Mr Barilaro’s references were a significant factor behind the recruitment panel’s decision to hire him.

Two of the referees had been revealed previously: Australian ambassador to the US Arthur Sinodinos, and Regional NSW secretary Gary Barnes.

But Mr Barilaro initially would not reveal who the third referee was.

“I shouldn’t have to,” he said.

The committee chair warned him he might be compelled to answer the question at a later date.

The members then agreed with Mr Barilaro to give him a chance to discuss the matter with the referee during the lunch break before deciding on whether to answer the question.

During the lunch break, news.com.au revealed the referee was Mr O’Farrell.

“I’ve been lucky enough in my life journey to have met some wonderful people and Mr. O’Farrell knew and knows my building capacity, capability,” Mr Barilaro said.

“I asked him if he’d be a referee, I think it’s very appropriate that he can be and he has, and that’s the end of that.”

John Barilaro claimed on his CV to be the director of a board that didn't exist.
Camera IconJohn Barilaro claimed on his CV to be the director of a board that didn't exist. Credit: supplied

BARILARO DEFENDS CV DETAIL

Mr Barilaro was asked about a NCA NewsWire report that revealed he listed a position as “director” of a board that didn’t exist.

The former deputy premier in January listed on his CV a position as board director of an entity called Smarter Regions CRC, but that organisation had already been rejected for funding by that time and was being wound down.

The would-be Smarter Regions chief executive told NCA NewsWire there was no board to be a member of.

But Mr Barilaro disputed that characterisation during his evidence.

“I saw that report in the media … there was a board, the CEO used to address members as board members and there were minutes for those meetings,” he said.

However, he conceded he should have called himself a “member” of the board instead of “director”.

BUREAUCRATS GAVE BARILARO ‘COVER’

Mr Barilaro told the inquiry that accusations his appointment was a case of “jobs for the boys” were baseless because a public service panel had dealt with the application.

“This was an independent process, a public service job. There is no exclusion of a former member of parliament applying for a public service job,” he said.

“In my mind, in one way, it guaranteed cover (and) would make it easier to justify such a role. It would have been the opposite if they had proceeded with the statutory appointments.

“This committee would be saying that would have been a ‘jobs for the boys’ appointment because my fellow cabinet ministers would have made that decision.

“That wasn’t the process. I went through a public service application process.”

Mr Barilaro had sought to change the appointment process to one controlled by ministers as one of his last acts in cabinet.

‘I WISH I NEVER APPLIED’

Mr Barilaro has said he regretted applying for the New York trade role because the fallout from his appointment created personal difficulties for him.

“If I knew what I know now, I wish I never had applied,” Mr Barilaro said.

“If I knew what I knew now, I wouldn’t have walked into this s**t show.

“I’m going to use those terms, I’m sorry to say, because the trauma I’ve gone through over the last six to seven weeks has been significant.”

Liberal Party Event
Camera IconMr Barilaro said Dominic Perrottet had told him to ‘go for it’. NCA NewsWire / Flavio Brancaleone Credit: News Corp Australia

BARILARO DESCRIBES ‘PERSONAL HELL’

Mr Barilaro said he wanted to “clear his name” as he began testifying under oath about his controversial appointment as New York trade envoy.

“I applied for a public service job as a private citizen,” Mr Barilaro told a parliamentary inquiry.

“Nothing precluded me from doing so – I followed the exact same process that was afforded to others.

“I went through several interviews, psychometric testing, and a police check. I was offered a job, I accepted the job and then withdrew from this job.

Singer Robinson in Sydney
Camera IconMr Barilaro says he applied for a public service job as a private citizen. Gaye Gerard / NCA NewsWire Credit: News Corp Australia

“From that moment on I’ve enjoyed what can only be described as a personal hell.”

The appearance by the former state Nationals leader before the committee investigating the $500,000-a-year job comes at the start of what’s expected to be a challenging week for the Perrottet government.

The Premier denied earlier on Monday a news report claiming he had offered to create a new trade role for a different minister as part of a deal for him to exit cabinet.

“The allegations in relation to the creation of a role I would give to somebody outside politics is completely false and offensive,” Dominic Perrottet told the 2GB radio station.

Originally published as Ex-NSW deputy premier John Barilaro to testify at probe into New York trade appointment

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