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Watch live: Barilaro inquiry
Watch former deputy premier John Barilaro give evidence to a parliamentary inquiry into his controversial appointment to a New York trade role.
The inquiry is taking a lunch break and will resume at 1pm.
Labor MP and Barilaro clash in questioning over references
Labor’s Daniel Mookhey has questioned John Barilaro on his use of Department of Regional NSW secretary Gary Barnes as a reference in his application.
It has led to a heated exchange.
Mookhey: Did you at any point have discussions with Gary Barnes about your interest, your application or the process?
Barilaro: Not that I recall. I would have told him when I was applying for the job I had applied for the [role], naturally.
Mookhey What about [after your application]?
Barilaro: I do believe Mr Barnes notified me that he had put up the referee, I’ve got to feel a sense that that happened.
Mookhey: You established the Department of Regional NSW?
Barilaro: Yes.
Mookhey: And you chose Gary Barnes for the role of secretary?
Barilaro: Yes, of course.
Mookhey asks whether then-premier Gladys Berejiklian and former Department of Premier and Cabinet head Tim Reardon resisted that appointment.
Barilaro: Not that I’m aware of.
Mookhey: You’re the reason why he become secretary, and he’s a big reason why you become the successful candidate to Americas. Do you understand the perception that creates?
Barilaro: You can’t use this forum to defame people... That is a slur on a public servant that I believe has been in public service of 35-plus years across the country and all colours of government... To make that slur today, that somehow I did him a favour, because that’s what you’re referring to, and he did me one, is wrong.
Mookhey denies that was a slur.
The pair also clashed over Mookhey’s suggestion that Barilaro used information he gleaned as a minister for personal gain in the application process. Barilaro insists the information he cited was all on the public record and he had a right to apply as a former minister.
The inquiry is now taking a lunch break. It will resume at 1pm.
Labor presses Barilaro to disclose third referee for New York post
Labor is pressing John Barilaro about who gave him the third reference in his application for the New York job.
We already know he received a reference from Department of Regional NSW secretary Gary Barnes and Ambassador to the United States Arthur Sinodinos.
Barilaro is insisting he does not have to disclose the third person.
Former NSW deputy premier John Barilaro appears before the upper house inquiry on Monday.Credit:Kate Geraghty
Labor’s Daniel Mookhey says it is a lawful and relevant question.
“You’re the person who got the job, your referee was highly influential... The final report that was signed makes it very clear that your referees were a very important consideration [in getting the job],” he said.
Barilaro has asked for time during his lunch break to contact the referee and seek their permission to disclose their identity.
Mookhey says that is reasonable and he will resume questioning after lunch.
The public service panel ‘gave me cover’: Barilaro
Former deputy premier John Barilaro says the fact he was selected for the New York trade post by a public service panel – rather than his colleagues – gives him cover against “jobs for the boys” allegations.
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.
In my mind, in one way, it guaranteed cover ... that 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 [through an] independent panel.
I would argue that the independent public service process gave me cover to take the politics out of it.
I’m not aware of what occurred behind closed doors... and rightly so you’ve been asking those questions of the agency and the public servants.
But as far as I’m concerned, I never sought out special treatment.
Public Service Commissioner Kathrina Lo last week told the inquiry she thought Barilaro was a suitable candidate but that she had doubts about the process by which he was appointed.
‘I changed my mind’: Barilaro withdrew and resumed application within 48 hours
Former deputy premier John Barilaro is explaining why he withdrew his application for the New York position, before re-entering the process two days later.
Barilaro applied for the role on January 19 but withdrew on February 23, after taking a job with Sydney property developer Coronation Property.
On February 25, he emailed the recruitment firm and asked to proceed with his application.
Labor asks why he withdrew and then changed his mind so quickly.
Barilaro: As I said earlier, I had a looming defamation case, I had a new job. I had made a decision to withdraw. And you know what? I changed my mind. From a professional [point of view], why not go through the process? This was a public service job that I could apply for I was entitled to apply for as a citizen. So why not continue?
Labor: I’m not disputing your right to change your mind but I’m asking you [how you were] able to go through that entire process, as you’ve just described, within 48 hours?
Barilaro: I’m sure many people have made spontaneous decisions, and regretted it. The old line “buyer’s remorse” normally happens within hours of someone’s decision.
Labor: Did you talk to any of your former colleagues during that period?
Barilaro: Not that I recall.
‘I wouldn’t have walked into this shitshow’ if I knew what I know now: Barilaro
John Barilaro says he wishes he never applied for the New York trade role.
It came after Labor pointed out that Investment NSW boss Amy Brown said there were “multiple points of intersection” between herself and then-trade minister Stuart Ayres during the recruitment process.
Labor: Now you know that, do you agree that, in fact, it was not the exact same process that was afforded to others?
Barilaro: I can’t make that comment but I will say this: If I knew what I know now, I wish I never had applied. If I knew what I knew now, I wouldn’t have walked into this shitshow. 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.
John Barilaro giving evidence this morning.Credit:Kate Geraghty
He said the interactions between Brown and Ayres, revealed through the inquiry, had “surprised me as much as it surprised anybody else” but he couldn’t speak to the severity of those conversations or their impact on the process.
He said he “genuinely believed” that Ayres had done nothing to help him.
“I don’t believe he was going to bat for me and I think he’s been quite public about that,” he said.
But he acknowledged that the independent Graeme Head review would determine how those interactions should be interpreted.
Barilaro also said he had voluntarily given his testimony to the Head review.
Barilaro says cabinet wanted to change appointment process and he was a ‘big fan’ of Jenny West
Former deputy premier John Barilaro has addressed a number of questions about the process that saw a submission to make the trade roles ministerial appointments, instead of public service appointments, fast-tracked through cabinet.
John Barilaro and Jenny West.Credit:Nine
He has also spoken about former bureaucrat Jenny West, the first frontrunner candidate for the New York role whose offer for the job was rescinded.
This is his evidence on some of the key points the inquiry is asking about:
- He said ministers had been having conversations about elevating the trade commissioner roles to ministerial appointments from June last year. “We wanted to attract a higher calibre of individuals ... for these roles: commercial business people, former diplomats or even former politicians,” he said. That is why he sought to convert the appointment process. “I recall the debate in that room, and the support was significant,” he said.
- He denied seeking to fast-track the cabinet submission to make that change. The inquiry has previously heard it went through in 10 days, rather than several weeks, and that Barilaro had requested it “ASAP”. “There wasn’t haste ... I was pleasantly surprised that they turned around a [cabinet submission] so quickly,” he said.
- He said he never requested that change with Investment NSW boss Amy Brown directly. “I don’t recall ever having that conversation directly with Ms Amy Brown. It was through my staffer Joseph Brayford, that he went and inquired in relation to the cabinet submission,” he said.
- He said he never knew that West was the successful candidate in the first recruitment round last year. “I didn’t know that Jenny West was ... offered the job. I only found that out during these proceedings,” he said. Barilaro was asked why he signed a brief identifying West as the successful candidate. “That has a digital signature on it, it hasn’t got my personal signature on it,” he said. “I wouldn’t say that, under oath, if I didn’t believe it to be the case.”
- He said “the clash of timelines unfortunately” interrupted West’s job offer for the New York role. “I was a big fan of Jenny West and I’m going to make this absolute clear in this forum. She was a strong professional, a fantastic public servant and someone that did a fantastic job for me in that role,” he said.
Why I left politics: Barilaro
Former NSW deputy premier John Barilaro has been asked when he decided to leave politics.
“This is a really, really good question. And there’s been plenty of speculation around that,” Barilaro said. This was his explanation:
There’s no surprise that in 2020 I took a month off for mental health leave. And when I returned, from that point, life was never the same. But I didn’t want to leave off the back of what was a breakdown, so I chose not to do it then, and I worked hard. And of course, we had the COVID lockdown situation.
The first time that I was considering leaving politics was budget week of 2021. I spoke to a couple of friends, colleagues, that I had enough.
I was considering at that time ... that I would announce on a Thursday morning and call for a party room meeting so that I would leave in June ... That was my plan.
The Delta outbreak began in the same week as last year’s budget.
So I chose not to leave. And it was the correct decision because ... I played an important role in the crisis committee and the road map.
The decision to leave on the fourth of October was a decision that I made only spontaneously after the premier [resigned].
I thought this was an opportunity for me to leave.
There’ll be just another crisis or another wave. And I thought it was time for a refreshed leadership.
Barilaro says he had just one conversation with Perrottet after applying
John Barilaro said he only had one conversation with Premier Dominic Perrottet about the New York trade role after he applied for the role in mid-January.
Barilaro said he ran into the premier at Martin Place, about 3pm in late January or early February, and told him he had applied.
He said there were no further conversations.
Asked whether he had spoken to then-trade minister Stuart Ayres, he said: “The minister for trade contacted me last week after he resigned ... He indicated that he can’t believe what occurred, but he seems hurt.”
He said his Nationals colleagues Sarah Mitchell, Bronnie Taylor and Paul Toole congratulated him when he was about to be appointed.
‘At no point did anyone say that this could have been a problem’: Barilaro
John Barilaro says he became interested in the New York trade role in November last year, after he had resigned from parliament but before leaving the building.
He said he mentioned his interest in the position to Premier Dominic Perrottet in a “passing comment” in late November.
“He was checking in on me, and on one of those occasions I flagged [it] ... I said that I’d be interested. He had nothing more to say than ‘go for it’.”
John Barilaro giving evidence today.Credit: Kate Geraghty
Barilaro said he did not realise the New York job was vacant at the time. “I just flagged the option, and the idea, of a trade role.”
He said he later asked former trade minister Stuart Ayres about the role in early December, which is why Ayres sent him the job advertisement in The Australian Financial Review about a week or two later.
“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.
“As I recall, I sought out what the process would be in relation to the [role].”
He said that was his only conversation with Ayres, but that he also discussed the matter with Treasurer Matt Kean via text just before Christmas last year because he respected Kean’s counsel.
“He was supportive. I can’t recall the exact word. [There was] no feedback in relation to political sensitivities,” Barilaro said.
“He would have told me bluntly if he thought it was going to be an issue, for sure.
“At no point did anyone ever raise a concern about me applying for this role.
“If someone had flagged that early on, and maybe I should have used my own political nous and my own gut feel – even when accepting the job, I even had hesitation, it took me a little while to make that decision – but at no point did anyone say that this could have been a problem.”
He said he did not consult any other former colleagues before his application.
Barilaro denies creating job for himself, says he has endured ‘personal hell’ since appointment
Former NSW deputy premier John Barilaro is giving his opening statement and has declared the upper house inquiry to be “an inquiry to clear my name”.
He says being a former politician does not revoke the “fundamental right” to the presumption of innocence.
I refute any suggestion of wrongdoing. [I] refute the suggestion that I created the [trade commissioner to the Americas] role for myself.
I refute any suggestions that I sought out any special treatment during the public service job process where an independent panel, on merit, put me forward as the preferred candidate.
We’ve heard from long-term, professional senior public servants that I was a credible and capable candidate that brought many attributes to fill this important role for the people of our great state.
For that, I had my credentials and application publicly derided in what is nothing less than an abuse of my privacy.
Let me make this clear. I applied for a public service job as a private citizen. Nothing excluded me in doing so. I followed the exact same process that was afforded to others.
I went through several interviews, psychometric testing and police checks. I was offered a job. I accepted the job. I then withdrew from this job.
From that moment I’ve endured what can only be described as a personal hell, unfair and unjust. I look forward today to stating my case to this committee.
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2022-08-08 01:52:58Z
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