The Sauce: Sun sets on bureaucrats’ plum trade role gigs
The newly-minted Minns government will take an axe to bureaucrats, with plum overseas trade roles among the first to go. See who’ll get the flick and catch up on The Sauce.
NSW
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Heads will roll under the Minns Labor government – and the first on the chopping block will be the overseas trade commissioners.
However, the highly paid cohort of bureaucrats will be given the opportunity to see out their contracts before their positions are dissolved.
In the case of NSW Agent General to UK, EU and Israel Stephen Cartwright, his contract only ends on July 26 next year and so he will have plenty of time to figure out his next move.
The London-based bureaucrat was appointed to the role for three years, starting mid-2021.
His entitlements became the focus of an upper house inquiry that was triggered following the appointment of former deputy premier John Barilaro to the US trade commissioner role.
An inquiry report released in February found the recruitment process of NSW senior trade and investment commissioners to be flawed, while Cartwright’s salary negotiations did not meet public sector expectations.
Leaked messages had revealed how Cartwright complained that his $600,000-a-year salary wasn’t enough to live on in London.
North Asia trade and investment commissioner Michael Newman will have until July 12 to pack up his bags, while his ASEAN counterpart Andrew Park will enjoy an extra two years in his role with his contract only up on April 20 in 2025.
Greater China trade commissioner Helen Sawczak will also be able to enjoy another two years abroad with her contract expiring July 19, 2025.
Labor pledged to scrap the roles on the grounds the positions did not add up to value for money, with many – except for Cartwright – on salaries of up to $500,000.
Less clear is what the Minns government will do with department secretaries, who often find themselves in the firing line upon a change of government.
This includes Michael Coutts-Trotter – aka “MCT” – who happens to be married to federal Labor Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek.
As head of Department of Premier and Cabinet, MCT is the state’s most senior public servant.
But it is a role that the premier of the day likes to put their own personal stamp on as former premier Dominic Perrottet did when he ousted Jim Betts – who had been Gladys Berejiklian’s pick – for MCT when he took over the leadership.
One name that was doing the rounds last week, should Minns be looking to move MCT on, was that of Tom Forrest, who is chief executive of Urban Taskforce Australia who has worked as a chief-of-staff to former Labor premier Morris Iemma.
It will also be interesting to see if Treasurer Daniel Mookhey keeps on the recently appointed NSW Treasury secretary Dr Paul Grimes.
The long-time public servant replaced Mike Pratt, who announced his intention to return to the private sector early last year.
STAR APPOINTMENTS
While former Coalition staff are scouring job ads, Labor advisers past and present are being snapped up by the new ministers within the Minns government.
Tanya Plibersek is losing her communications director Tamsin Lloyd who is taking up a senior role within the office of NSW Energy, Environment, Climate Change and Heritage Minister Penny Sharpe.
Lloyd, who happens to be married to NSW Treasurer Daniel Mookhey, is highly experienced in the communications field, having held roles with the Asbestos Safety and Eradication Agency, the Australian Manufacturing Workers’ Union and the Maritime Union of Australia.
It won’t be the first time working in Macquarie Street for Lloyd, who began her career with former Labor education minister Verity Firth whom she worked with for four years up until the change of government in 2011.
Speaking of Mookhey, he has secured experienced spinner Stephen Fitzpatrick who will be heading back to Macquarie Street after a stint as chief-of-staff for NSW Senator Tony Sheldon.
Fitzpatrick, a former Indonesia correspondent for The Australian, previously served as the chief-of-staff for former state opposition leader Jodi McKay.
Over in the office of new Transport Minister Jo Haylen, veteran Labor adviser Ross Neilson has been fulfilling the role of head of communications. Described as a skilled operator, Neilson has worked as a journalist, adviser to various NSW Labor ministers, and for former Northern Territory chief minister Clare Martin.
SENATE SCRAMBLE
Former NSW transport minister Andrew Constance may have some new competition in filling the hotly contested Liberal Party Senate vacancy.
Deemed a frontrunner after right-faction candidate and Catholic Schools NSW boss Dallas McInerney pulled out, Constance could now be up against his own party’s president.
The Sauce has been told NSW Liberal Party president Maria Kovacic was named as a prospective candidate during a meeting of about 15 senior Liberal moderates on Thursday.
Constance has yet to formally put his hand up for the seat and could be weighing up his options.
It is understood Kovacic’s name was put forward by NSW Liberal state executive member Sally Betts.
The Senate spot became vacant following the death of Jim Molan in January.
Nominations for the spot are yet to formally opened, with some Liberals already accusing party officials of “dithering” and “delaying” to secure a preferred outcome.
“At this rate, the Liberal Party won’t have a Senator there in time for Senate Estimates,” one moderate said.
NAME CHECK
He may have gone, but former NSW health minister Brad Hazzard is far from forgotten.
Last week in ACT parliament, Labor Health Minister Rachel Stephen-Smith name-checked her former counterpart with respect to the work he had undertaken on vaping.
Stephen-Smith has been advocating for national action to reduce the impact of e-cigarettes on the community, in particular regarding factors that appeal to children – such as advertising and marketing, e-liquid flavourings and labelling requirements.
In a ministerial statement delivered last Tuesday, Stephen-Smith noted how the first face-to-face meeting of health ministers with the new federal Health Minister had provided an opportunity to put e-cigarettes back on the agenda “after the former Liberal government’s party room scuttled meaningful action”.
In the case of Hazzard, however, Stephen-Smith only had nice things to say.
“I would particularly like to acknowledge the contribution of my NSW colleague Brad Hazzard and his efforts in this area to drive policy work,” she said.
SPOTTED
Former deputy premier John Barilaro driving a black Audi SUV around the streets of Manly Vale on Sydney’s northern beaches on Good Friday morning.
Was he trying to find an open cafe like the rest of us?
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