Jenny West told NYC trade job to be ‘a present for someone’ prior to appointment of John Barilaro

Pressure is mounting on ICAC to probe John Barilaro’s appointment to a $500,000 NYC trade role, as the woman first offered the job testified she heard it would become a “present for someone”.

Pressure is mounting on the corruption watchdog to launch a probe into John Barilaro’s appointment to a plum trade role amid claims that a senior public servant declared the job would become a “present for someone”.

Senior government figures fear the matter will be investigated by the Independent Commission Against Corruption, after explosive evidence from former Investment NSW Deputy Secretary Jenny West to a parliamentary inquiry into Mr Barilaro’s appointment to the New York trade posting.

Ms West said that two months after being verbally offered the role she was told the offer had been withdrawn, and that her existing job was being scrapped.

Ms West told the committee that she was offered the job in August last year, when Investment NSW CEO Amy Brown texted her the good news.

“On (the) 12th of August 2021 Ms Brown told me I was the successful candidate,” Ms West said.

Jenny West gave evidence to parliament on Monday. Picture: Nikki Short

“She (Ms Brown) sent me a text message saying, ‘congratulations, this is one to frame’ and she had a emoji of a statue of liberty and a champagne bottle,” Ms West said.

A briefing note signed by Gladys Berejiklian identifying Ms West as the successful candidate was attached to the text message.

But weeks later, Ms West said she was told that the job may be at risk of not going ahead.

Ms Brown told her that then-Deputy Premier John Barilaro had lodged a cabinet submission which would have made the Senior Trade and Investment Commissioner roles subject to political appointments.

Ms West was told she would need to wait for a cabinet decision on the matter for her contract to be finalised, the inquiry heard.

Then, in October, Ms West said she was told she would not be going to New York.

Ms West said she was told the New York job would be a “present to someone” else. Picture: Nikki Short

“Ms Brown said that the position - and this is a quote - “will be a present for someone”,” Ms West said.

Ms Brown said that Ms West was an “extraordinary performer,” adding that she was “upset” by the news, according to Ms West’s notes.

“In the space of four weeks, I went from having been appointed to the role of Senior Trade and Investment Commissioner for the Americas, to potentially not having a job,” Ms West told the inquiry.

The account presented by Ms West is directly at odds with evidence given by Ms Brown in a closed parliamentary committee hearing last week, in which the Investment NSW CEO raised concerns about Ms West’s performance.

“I am genuinely surprised by the matters raised now by Ms Brown in her evidence before this inquiry,” Ms West said.

“Many of those things said are inaccurate or even false.”

NSW Labor has now called for Ms Brown to be stood down amid the worsening scandal and questioned whether Trade Minister Stuart Ayres should continue in his role.

“Most people in the public would ... be asking themselves whether there is something rotten in the state of NSW,” Labor Treasury spokesman Daniel Mookhey said.

Investment NSW declined to respond to Ms West’s evidence.

John Barilaro said media pressure forced him to quit the trade post. Picture NCA Newswire/ Gaye Gerard.

Mr Ayres “categorically” rejected the suggestion that he “exerted political influence” over the appointment process.

“I did not say the job was to be a ‘present’ for anyone and I find that idea to be offensive,” he said in a statement.

After being told that she was not going to New York, Ms West was also told that her current role would no longer exist, the inquiry heard.

Ms West said she sought a meeting with Department of Premier and Cabinet Secretary Michael Coutts-Trotter about the New York trade role but never heard back.

“The next I heard from him was by way of a formal letter terminating my employment one month later,” she said.

Despite being told her role had been made redundant, Ms West said a similar position was later advertised on LinkedIn. She agreed that her job had been “readvertised” within the 38 week period for which she had already been paid as part of a redundancy package.

The Daily Telegraph understands that Premier Dominic Perrottet will await the findings of former Public Service Commissioner Graeme Head’s review, due in the next few weeks. He has previously committed to making the review public and taking any action that is required.