NSW’s London trade commissioner caught up in Barilaro job saga quits

London: Stephen Cartwright, the NSW Agent General to United Kingdom whose appointment by the former state government was engulfed in a “jobs-for-mates” scandal, has resigned from his post a year early.

The former CEO of the NSW Business Chamber, one of the state’s highest-paid public servants, said he had “lived too long” without his family and was resigning effective June 28.

Agent-General Stephen Cartwright gave evidence to the parliamentary inquiry.Credit: NSW Parliament

His appointment came under fierce scrutiny last year after it emerged he belatedly applied for the role, and then asked for an $800,000 salary package. He ultimately negotiated a $600,000 package that included expenses – higher than any other trade commissioner.

Also, the state’s senior trade commissioner to Europe and Israel, Cartwright faced a NSW parliamentary inquiry last year as part of a probe into the appointment of the former deputy premier John Barilaro to a trade role in New York.

Appearing at the inquiry, Cartwright denied he received preferential treatment or benefitted from “jobs for mates”. He said he informed Barilaro of his previous $800,000 salary during an initial coffee meeting, and that the former deputy premier told him the government was open to negotiating for a high-calibre candidate.

“I fear this is where this myth that somehow I was asking, requesting or demanding $800,000 a year that’s been splashed all over the media [comes from],” Cartwright told the inquiry in November 2022.

“I received an offer with a base of [$600,000] and substantial contributions of rent and substantial contribution to school fees. I didn’t ask for any of this. This is what was sent to me.”

In a lengthy posting on social media site Linkedin, Cartwright said after almost two years in London he had decided to return to his “incredibly supportive wife and kids in Sydney” and to the private sector where “my skills, experience, leadership capability and business acumen will be fully appreciated”.

“Despite some considerable distractions during my term, I remain very proud of what has been achieved since I commenced as the NSW Agent General on 27 July 2021.”

Leaked WhatsApp messages last year revealed Cartwright had told then trade minister Stuart Ayres that his pay was insufficient, he couldn’t afford to bring his wife and five children to the UK and that “something has to be done”.

“All other AGs and Fed Govt execs have rent, car and school fees covered by their govt,” he wrote in messages seen by this masthead. He went on to list some entitlements comparable representatives from other Australian states were getting for their roles overseas.

Cartwright said when he arrived in London in January 2022, there had not been an active NSW government presence in the UK or Europe for 30 years, which meant that the entire Trade and Investment operation in London, Paris and Berlin had to be rebuilt from the ground up.

He said in the office’s first full year of operation more than $350 million in foreign investment came into NSW and more than 1500 jobs were created as a result. He said his office had helped more than 120 NSW exporters with an estimated value of $20 million in exports this year, and a forward pipeline of over $100 million.

“I accepted this important role in order to continue with the vital mission that I had relentlessly pursued during my 11-year tenure as the CEO of Business NSW, ie supporting the economic success of NSW so that businesses could grow, create more jobs and ensure that our citizens could enjoy a rising standard of living.”

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