Barilaro trade appointment amounted to ‘jobs for the boys’, inquiry finds

Former deputy premier John Barilaro benefited from a “jobs for the boys” appointment when he was given a plum US trade role, in a recruitment process that lacked transparency, integrity and was not conducted at arm’s length from government.

A parliamentary inquiry has made the key findings in a searing interim review of the jobs scandal that paralysed the Perrottet government last year, triggering multiple reviews, inquiries and a severe backlash from Barilaro’s former colleagues. Barilaro resigned from the posting before it commenced.

John Barilaro giving evidence during the inquiry last year.Credit: Kate Geraghty

The upper house probe also made a scathing assessment of former trade minister Stuart Ayres, accusing him of misleading the public and questioning whether he misled parliament in statements about his role in the process.

“This whole sorry saga has shaken the public’s confidence in the integrity of Public Service recruitment,” the report found.

Barilaro was appointed to the $500,000-a-year role in early 2021, despite senior public servant Jenny West having already been offered the job, which was one of five global trade commissioner roles created by Barilaro when he was trade minister.

That offer was rescinded before Barilaro later applied and was appointed to the post, months after his resignation from politics.

NSW Labor moved to block his posting with an urgent upper house inquiry.

NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet said he would pay no regard to the findings of the inquiry, in particular those related to Ayres.

“Labor’s focused on politics, I’m focused on fixing problems, and this is a political committee. That’s what it is. As premier I instigated an independent review by a former inspector of the ICAC, who cleared Ayres of any wrongdoing.”

The upper house inquiry also made a scathing assessment of former trade minister Stuart Ayres.Credit: Rhett Wyman

The committee made five key findings about the public service recruitment process, including that Barilaro’s appointment as Senior Trade and Investment Commissioner to the Americas had “all the trademarks of a ‘job for the boys’ position”.

It also found then minister Ayres showed inappropriate and poor judgment in discussing the New York role with Barilaro after his resignation from politics and that he did not remain at arm’s length during the recruitment.

“It is a matter for the Legislative Assembly as to whether former Minister Ayres misled the parliament,” the report said.

“Despite assurances from senior public servants and ministers that the appointment process was conducted by the public service under a merit-based process, it is clear that the process was flawed and that the executive was not at arm’s length from the process.”

An earlier independent review by former NSW public service commissioner Graeme Head last year also found the process was not conducted at arm’s length from government. Head recommended action be taken against the former department secretary responsible for Barilaro’s appointment, Amy Brown, who was sacked in September.

The crisis also claimed the ministerial scalp of Ayres, who was forced to resign last year before he was later cleared of wrongdoing in a separate review. Ayres has been told Perrottet will reinstate him to cabinet after the election, if the Coalition claims victory.

Barilaro quit the role amid overwhelming public scrutiny in June last year, saying he believed his appointment would continue to be a distraction from the important role.

“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 at the time.

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

The position of trade commissioner to the Americas remains vacant.

While the upper house inquiry was triggered by Barilaro’s appointment to the US, its scope was widened to examine the appointment of UK agent-general Stephen Cartwright.

A final report focusing on the key issues related to Cartwright’s appointment to London will be tabled at the end of February.

Monday’s interim report comes just days after an investigation found an intervention by Barilaro’s office in 2020 diverted funding for a $100 million bushfire recovery program away from Labor-held electorates. That report has been sent to the corruption watchdog by both the government and NSW Labor leader Chris Minns.

Barilaro and Ayres have both been contacted for comment.

More to come

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