When he appears before the upper house inquiry for the first time today, former deputy prime minister John Barilaro will be questioned about much of the evidence parliament has heard so far.
There is a lot of material to go through: we heard the testimony of eight witnesses during five days of hearings spread over several weeks.
If you need a refresher on the tests so far, here’s what we’ve learned:
Investment NSW boss Amy Brown (first appearance June 29) Brown said former Investment NSW assistant secretary Jenny West was “verbally offered the role” on August 12 last year . The then Premier of NSW, Gladys Berejiklian, signed a briefing note on that date noting that “a successful candidate has been identified…” for the New York publication. That candidate was West. However, the government ordered Brown to cease recruiting due to 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 John Barilaro. Brown said he officially told West on Oct. 1 that his appointment would not continue.
Former bureaucrat Jenny West (July 11) West said Brown told her on October 14 that the role would be “a gift to somebody”. (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.
Former civil servant Jenny West at the hearing last month. Credit: Nick Moir
Former Investment NSW senior counsel Chris Carr (July 18) Carr rejected claims Jenny West was never formally offered a US trading role, insisting she only had a “limited” role when giving advice. Carr said he was asked by Amy Brown or her chief of staff last September to prepare advice on whether the appointment of commissioners could be converted from public service to ministerial decisions, a request from John Barilaro.
John Barilaro’s former senior adviser Joseph Brayford (18 July, transcript only) Brayford’s evidence indicated that the Cabinet proposal to give ministers the power to appoint trade commissioners instead of the public service was sped up the weeks before Barilaro resigned from parliament. Brayford said the then deputy prime minister requested the change by sending him a rare text message asking for a cabinet minute to be prepared “as soon as possible” in September last year. Barilaro’s proposal reached the cabinet in about 10 days, while it usually takes weeks, and came a week before his resignation from parliament.
John Barilaro’s former chief of staff Mark Connell (written statement only) Connell claimed that Barilaro told him in April 2019 that he would create a position in New York to make sure he had a job to go to next to leave politics. His statement read: “He [Barilaro] he said: “I’ve just come from a meeting with Dom and Stuart about the trade and we’re going to bring the general agent back to London as well as a bunch of other publications around the world… Then he said: ‘That’s that this is the job for when I get the fuck out of this place’. I responded to Mr. Barilaro and said, “But John, the role of general agent will be filled long before you retire from this position.” Connell claimed that Barilaro told him, “I don’t want to go to London, me, I’m going to New York … I’ll get one put in New York, that’s where I” turns me off too [sic]”Barilaro has rejected the claims and called them “fictitious”.
Investments NSW chief Amy Brown (second appearance, August 3) Brown said she feared controversy would follow John Barilaro’s appointment and said Trade Minister Stuart Ayres had not kept up away from the process. He defended the withdrawal of an earlier offer made to bureaucrat Jenny West, saying it was related to West’s performance. In the second round of hiring, Brown said a recruiting firm sent her a panel report comparing Barilaro and a top-ranked female candidate, Kimberley Cole. Brown said he believed the report was full of errors and sought to change the report and raise Barilaro’s classification.
The department’s secretary, Amy Brown, said she was nervous about appointing John Barilaro to the trade role given his history with the government. Credit: Kate Geraghty
Barilaro’s former chief of staff Siobhan Hamblin (Aug 5) Hamblin said Barilaro never raised a personal interest in the trade roles but first asked her about the appointment process and whether the June of last year. He also said he urged the former deputy prime minister not to resign amid the COVID crisis last October, but proceeded to resign days after then-prime minister Gladys Berejiklian. He could not explain why he was seeking an urgent cabinet minute to change business appointments.
Managing Director of Investments NSW Kylie Bell (August 5)Bell told Barilaro he got the job via text message on May 23. She felt the recruiting firm had “a bit of an unconscious bias” against him in the hiring process and said he could have “made things happen” in New York. Although Bell received a glowing reference for the other candidate, Kimberley Cole, he said Cole did not have enough experience in the US market or in NSW and was not the best fit for the role in New York.
Public Service Commissioner Kathrina Lo (Aug 5) Lo said both she and independent panel member Warwick Smith would not have approved the panel’s final selection report endorsed by John Barilaro if they knew the information they knew now . 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 it could have been used as political cover by the hiring company or Department Secretary Amy Brown.
Public Sector Commissioner Kathrina Lo. Credit: Kate Geraghty