NSW Ministers ordered to get active amid fears Barilaro’s New York job overshadowed state budget
NSW MPs have been ordered to get more active on social media and the weekends as anger mounts over the “forgotten” state budget.
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Media staffers for senior ministers have been called into a meeting and ordered to spruik the state budget, amid frustration the furore over John Barilaro’s New York appointment had “sucked the oxygen” out of the Coalition’s first steps in their 2023 election campaign.
Multiple sources told The Telegraph that last Monday media advisers were called into a meeting by the Premier’s office and pushed to make their ministers more visible and “sell the budget more” – at a time when Premier Dominic Perrottet continues to face sustained questioning from media over Mr Barilaro’s posting.
It’s understood the message was targeted at ministers who don’t do media conferences on weekends, while staff were also instructed to increase their social media usage.
A spokesperson from the Premier’s Office said it was a regular meeting of advisors to discuss planning.
“There were no directives given,” the spokesperson said.
“As is the case after every budget there was discussion around the key initiatives announced and how to take them forward over the coming months.
It comes as frustration builds over the ongoing Barilaro saga which government sources say has distracted from a budget the government had been incredibly proud of.
Multiple sources told the Telegraph that ministers and their staff had been “dejected” and “frustrated” by their hard work on the state budget getting lost amid the inquiry.
“It’s such a distraction to what we should be doing and the biggest problem is we did to ourselves,” one source said.
“We’re all just shaking our heads in disbelief.”
A Liberal source said the cabinet was eager to “move on” but it couldn’t happen until the independent report into the appointment was handed down.
“There is frustration with the situation, we had a great budget that was cutting through and all the oxygen has been sucked out of that completely,” they said.
“It’s farcical that Dominic (Perrottet) is about to meet Stuart (Ayres) in Mumbai (and then) having both of them come back off trade commissioner events. The irony is not lost on anyone.”
The push to get the focus back on the state budget, viewed as the key springboard in the Coalition’s bid to get re-elected next year, was on show on Wednesday, when Treasurer Matt Kean hosted a press conference spruiking the Energy Bill Buster program contained in the budget.
The Daily Telegraph understands that several senior ministers have been deemed “invisible” since the Barilaro story broke, chief among them being Stuart Ayres, amid the push for ministers to get more active.
“Ayres is hiding, he should have fronted this weeks ago,” a government source said.
Senior staff on Macquarie Street have also vented their frustration at a lack of consistency over the workload of senior ministers, especially with the Premier overseas during the Barilaro inquiry, as well as a lack of direction.
“There is genuine confusion among the offices on how to handle these incidents,” a source said.
Mr Ayres was contacted for comment.
Someone will pay for trade job mess
Stuart Ayres will wake up in India to face the music as senior government sources said heads will roll over the controversial appointment of John Barilaro as New York trade commissioner.
Mr Ayres is facing questions about why he told parliament there was no suitable candidate for the job before hiring Mr Barilaro — after signing off on a briefing which noted Jenny West had been “successful” in her application.
“In 2019 he stuffed up with the stadia … He plays fast and loose and is shaping up to be a big liability,” one governmentsource said.
“His seat is on 1 per cent, he should just go back and focus on his seat.”
Sources questioned if bureaucrats would have to “take the fall” for the debacle but were adamant that someone may have to go to create a ”circuit breaker”.
“It’s just appalling. I don’t know how they’ll get out of this situation,” they said.
Another source said who would go would ultimately depend on the independent review of the recruitment process commissionedby Premier Dominic Perrottet.
“It will largely come down to the independent report. Because of the emphasis placed on it by the Premier. Whatever is inthe report will have to be carried out,” they said.
“The end of all this can’t come quick enough.”
MPs were shocked Mr Ayres would go ahead and join Premier Dominic Perrottet on his trip to India amid furore — a move theysay will undoubtedly overshadow the trade trip.
Labor treasury spokesman Daniel Mookhey said Mr Ayres had “more questions” to answer.
“He’s either told a mistruth to his Cabinet colleagues, or told a mistruth to the public. It’s impossible for both of hisstories to be true at the same time,“ he said.
A Coalition MP defended Ayres, saying “no way he would knowingly do anything dodgy”, but conceded: “Will someone have to resignover this? Probably”.
Mr Ayres was contacted for comment.
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