Senior lawyer described in Jenny West’s notes to front inquiry, as premier prepares for trade trip

A senior government lawyer will be pressed to explain the controversial hiring process for the state’s US trade commissioner after he purportedly told the woman overlooked for the role that he was “horrified” by her treatment.

As Premier Dominic Perrottet prepares to depart on his first overseas trade mission this week, Investment NSW general counsel Chris Carr will front a parliamentary inquiry into the appointment of former deputy premier John Barilaro to the New York post.

Premier Dominic Perrottet, former deputy premier John Barilaro and former bureaucrat Jenny West.Credit: Oscar Colman, Dominic Lorrimer, Nick Moir

Former bureaucrat Jenny West, who was first offered the job before it was sensationally rescinded, appeared last week, giving evidence she was told the $500,000-a-year job would instead “be a present for someone”.

Barilaro has since quit the role, conceding that his appointment was a “distraction” and untenable.

A contemporaneous file note penned by Jenny West on September 17 last year.Credit:

In her evidence, West was asked about file notes she wrote last year documenting the chaotic process that ultimately ended her career as deputy secretary of Investment NSW.

One such note, on September 17, described a conversation with Carr, who was “horrified to hear about the situation I was in and couldn’t believe what was being proposed”.

At the time, West said she had just been told by agency boss Amy Brown that the verbal offer she had received was likely to be withdrawn.

She wrote: “His comments were, you were offered the job, had it signed off and just waiting on the contract and then this happens … if it was me, I would be bitterly disappointed.”

Carr will be questioned about West’s recollections at the third hearing of the inquiry which is examining the appointment on Tuesday.

The committee also planned to hear evidence from two former aides to Barilaro – former chief of staff Mark Connell and former senior policy adviser Joseph Brayford.

Investment NSW chief executive Amy Brown gives evidence at the parliamentary inquiry.Credit: Janie Barrett

Connell has declined to appear, while Brayford will give evidence in a private hearing only.

Leader of the opposition in the upper house Penny Sharpe said the committee will ask Carr to explain the way commissioners were appointed and under whose authority decisions were made.

A transcript of West’s evidence has been referred to the Independent Commission Against Corruption, which is already considering whether to investigate Barilaro’s appointment.

The premier has maintained that the process was conducted at arm’s length from government, telling parliament in June that Barilaro was appointed because the first round “did not identify a suitable candidate”.

Penny Sharpe (centre) questions Amy Brown as she gives evidence at the NSW Parliamentary Inquiry into the appointment of John Barilaro to the New York Trade Commissioner role.Credit: Janie Barrett

However, a cache of sensitive government documents have challenged this claim, including a note signed by then-premier Gladys Berejiklian declaring West “the successful candidate” for the US role.

Trade Minister Stuart Ayres has also insisted “no suitable candidate” was found. However, in budget estimates this year, Ayres said it was the pandemic that had, in fact, halted the hiring process.

“We thought that had quite a profound impact … so we withdrew that process, delayed it and started it later when COVID started to subside,” he told estimates in March.

The second round of recruitment was launched in December. Barilaro was among shortlisted candidates before his appointment in April this year.

Ayres on Monday said he believed that COVID had affected the process, while maintaining that Brown determined there were no suitable candidates at the end of the first round.

The premier on Monday distanced himself from claims about the impact of COVID, saying he could only comment on advice he had received.

“I know the context of advice that’s received by me. And that is … that there was no suitable candidate found,” Perrottet said.

Perrottet will embark on his first trade mission as premier on Wednesday amid the controversy, visiting South Korea, India and Japan, where he will officially open the trade commissioner’s office in Tokyo.

Ayres will also join the delegation in India, but no NSW-based Investment NSW staff will attend.

Perrottet on Monday said he wanted the mission to instil public confidence in the trade appointments, which include Japan, India and the Middle East, ASEAN, Britain, Europe and the Americas.

“There will always be public scrutiny,” he said. “Governments don’t always get it right. When you make mistakes and that becomes apparent, then you sit there and you address it.”

The premier is awaiting a review by Graeme Head into the Barilaro appointment. He has vowed to make the findings public and to implement any recommendations.

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