John Barilaro backs out of giving further testimony in probe examining his appointment as trade envoy to New York

John Barilaro has pulled out of a planned five-hour question session at a parliamentary probe into his appointment as New York trade envoy.

He was due to give evidence for a second time, facing fresh questions about a woman he helped get a senior department job before abruptly leaving parliament.

The former NSW deputy premier and Nationals leader is now in a relationship with the woman, who was his staffer at the time.

But on Friday morning committee sources said Mr Barilaro had backed out, citing mental health reasons.

The committee later confirmed the hearing was cancelled.

The leader of the Nationals in the upper house, Bronnie Taylor, told reporters her “friend” Mr Barilaro had spoken to her on the phone earlier in the morning.

“I spoke to John Barilaro this morning, he is a friend, but he is not up to attending the inquiry today,” she said.

“He’s been very open and very honest about his struggles with mental health, very open.

“There has been constant attention on him, he waited three weeks until he was able to give his side of a story at the inquiry.

“I say to you, and I say to anyone out there, how would that make you feel? And how do you think you would manage with that?”

Mr Barilaro has previously confirmed he put in a good word in for his former senior media adviser Jennifer Lugsdin when she was looking for a new job.

“I was told by my media adviser that she was applying for a job in the trade investment space and asked if I would be a referee and I chose to reach out and find out about that job,” Mr Barilaro told the inquiry earlier this week.

The inquiry is looking into the controversial process by which Mr Barilaro was appointed to a lucrative trade job in New York.

Opposition MPs have said they were keen to ask Mr Barilaro more questions about Ms Lugsdin, and what she knew about the New York job.

It’s not suggested Ms Lugsdin did anything wrong.

Mr Barilaro had also been expected to face questions about a message he sent to building commissioner David Chandler, whose resignation letter was revealed on Thursday.

The letter revealed he raised concerns about what he called the “advised relationship” between former fair trading minister Eleni Petinos and a developer firm that hired Mr Barilaro as its executive director.

Mr Chandler wrote that after he issued a stop work order on a project run by Coronation Property Group, he was contacted by both Ms Petinos’ office and, later, Mr Barilaro himself.

“I received a call from the Minister’s Office shortly after a draft order was issued … shortly after that call, a message was sent to me by John Barilaro who I was advised had recently joined the Coronation Board,” Mr Chandler wrote.

The committee recently expanded the terms of reference of the inquiry to deal with other foreign trade posts as well.

“There are still questions that need to be answered about the transparency of the process of his appointment as well as that of the other Senior Trade and Investment Commissioners,” committee chair and Greens MP Cate Faehrmann said.