The Sauce: Talk of a shredded memo keeps John Barilaro trade post intrigue alive

Whispers of a “shredded memo” has Perrottet government ministers fearful there is yet more explosive detail to come in the ongoing saga John Barilaro’s appointment to a US trade post.

Whispers of a “shredded memo” has Perrottet government ministers fearful there is yet more explosive detail to come in the ongoing saga of the appointment of former deputy premier John Barilaro to a US trade post.

The memo was allegedly written by a senior government staffer last year, and notes discussion about appointing Mr Barilaro to the post long before he had quit parliament at the end of December.

And while this rumoured memo has allegedly been shredded, the talk among NSW political staffers last week was that a public servant took a screen grab before it was destroyed.

The Barilaro camp has maintained the former Nationals leader only became seriously interested in the trade post when it was advertised for the second time.

Either way, it is fair to say both ministers and staffers within the Perrottet government are spooked, with the conspiracy theories of just what went down in the lead-up to Barilaro quitting continuing to circle.

The intrigue continues over the New York trade post awarded to former deputy premier John Barilaro. Picture NCA Newswire/Gaye Gerard.

Curiously, a copy of the two job advertisements for the New York post, produced as part of the cache of documents released to state parliament recently, show the second one to have been tweaked to include the terms “political interests” and “political leaders”.

The two advertisements relate to the recruitment process due by April 26, 2021 — the one where former senior bureaucrat Jenny West successfully applied before the job was rescinded – and the process due by January 19, 2022, which ultimately led to the appointment of Barilaro.

The first advertisement stated the successful candidate would “lead the state’s trade, commercial and cultural interests for NSW, across their region”.

In the second advertisement, the line had been tweaked to state the successful candidate would “lead the state’s commercial, cultural and political interests across their region”.

There’s a lot more to come in this space.

WAR FOOTING

With its best chance of winning a NSW election in years, Labor has seized the moment to begin preselecting candidates ahead of the March poll.

While the NSW Liberals are embroiled in factional argy bargy over the membership of the state executive, Labor has been endorsing MPs in about 17 seats, with candidates to also be sorted shortly in another eight.

These include the seats of Cessnock, Mount Druitt, Maroubra, Swansea, The Entrance, Wollongong, Shellharbour and Kiama.

Over in the Liberal camp, the moderates, right and centre-right factions are embroiled in a brawl over the make-up of the party’s decision-making body.

The state executive was implicated in the delays in the selection of federal candidates, although the blame among members was largely sheeted home to then-PM Scott Morrison’s rep Alex Hawke.

The winning combo will need to be sorted by the August 6 AGM, but in the meantime “the moderates are disorganised as usual, the soft-right are nowhere to be seen and the right are split”, a Liberal source said.

“At some point, we’ll get on to candidates,” the source added.

Among the names the Liberals are rumoured to be encouraging to run include Bridget Sakr, the mum of Oatlands car crash victim Veronique, for Strathfield, and pentathlete Chloe Esposito for Leppington.

BOOKING BISHOP

There is usually a smallish window for non-prime ministers to capitalise on when hitting the speakers’ circuit — unless, of course, you’re Julie Bishop.

Having assumed somewhat of a pseudo-celebrity status, Bishop remains very much in demand with successive sold-out events.

Julie Bishop is in demand as a speaker and will appear with …

… Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky at an upcoming event.

Among them was the $250-a-ticket “Cape Arid Afternoon Tea with free-flow of sparkling wine” event in Perth last month, where attendees were treated to a “conversation about Julie Bishop’s trailblazing political career” and her wealth of world experience.

“Bishop is a one-woman force of Western Australia,” the promo declared.

In May, Bishop was guest speaker at the 2022 Ruth Langley luncheon hosted by St Catherine’s School’s Parents and Friends Association in Melbourne.

Next week, Bishop — in her capacity as Australian National University chancellor — will open a blockbuster Q and A event featuring Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

The August 3 event will take place at Llewellyn Hall, with President Zelenskyy speaking live via video link from Ukraine.

Next month, the former foreign affairs and trade minister will speak about her “fascinating life” and “career journey to date” at The Young Professionals Network of the Department of Enterprise, Investment and Trade event.

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