John Barilaro steps down from $500,000 New York position

Former NSW deputy premier John Barilaro has announced he is stepping down from his new $500,000 trade position in New York after public pressure.

Former NSW deputy premier John Barilaro has announced he is stepping down from his new trade position in New York amid public pressure.

Mr Barilaro’s appointment as the state’s New York City-based US trade commissioner was widely panned this week, with the Labor Party accusing the government of giving out “jobs for mates”.

Mr Barilaro has told Investment NSW his position has become untenable and a distraction for the government.

“It is clear that my taking up this role is now not tenable with the amount of media attention this appointment has gained,” he said.

“I believe my appointment will continue to be a distraction and not allow this important role to achieve what it was designed to do, and thus my decision.

“I stress, that I have always maintained that I followed the process and look forward to the results of the review.”

The development came a day after an inquiry heard a successful female candidate for the $500,000-a-year trade posting allegedly had her “verbal offer” rescinded before the job eventually went to Mr Barilaro.

The inquiry was told businesswoman and former Investment NSW deputy secretary Jenny West was “extremely upset” to have her offer taken back, following instructions from Mr Barilaro’s office.

The revelations came on Wednesday during the first day of hearings examining the former NSW deputy premier’s appointment to the lucrative New York-based NSW trade commissioner to the Americas post.

Former NSW deputy premier John Barilaro has announced he is stepping down from his new trade position in New York after public pressure.

The upper house inquiry is the first of two probes into Mr Barilaro’s appointment to one of five global trade commissioner roles which he created while he was trade minister.

His appointment has stirred widespread controversy since it was announced last week, months after Mr Barilaro quit politics.

Investment NSW chief executive Amy Brown, the bureaucrat in charge of recruiting for the position, was the first person called to give evidence at the upper house inquiry on Wednesday.

Ms Brown said she was instructed by Mr Barilaro’s office to “unwind” the recruitment process towards the end of September.

Ms Brown said the government had said it wanted to change the way trade commissioners were chosen – to make them ministerial appointments rather than public service appointments.

“I was given a direction by government to cease the recruitment, due to a change in government policy to convert the roles into statutory officers appointed by a minister,” she said.

She said Jenny West, whom she described as a “great candidate”, had her offer withdrawn on October 1.

Mr Barilaro announced his plans to resign from parliament three days later.