London trade commissioner was ‘threatening’ over $800,000 pay packet, inquiry hears

The state’s London-based trade commissioner expected an $800,000 salary and became “threatening” in tense negotiations over his contract and expenses, a senior public servant has told a parliamentary inquiry.

Investment NSW chief executive Amy Brown told the upper house the agent-general in London, Stephen Cartwright, invoked the premier’s name and sought the intervention of former trade minister Stuart Ayres via WhatsApp over concerns about how his pay was structured.

Department secretary Amy Brown gives evidence for the third time.Credit: Kate Geraghty

The inquiry into John Barilaro’s controversial New York job appointment examined Cartwright’s appointment on Monday, after Labor expanded its remit amid revelations that Premier Dominic Perrottet canvassed the London-based job with Transport Minister David Elliott.

The premier on Monday admitted he discussed “a number of roles” with Elliott but insisted no promise was ever made.

Sources with knowledge of the discussion say Perrottet had described Cartwright, the former boss of lobbying group Business NSW, as “a problem”.

Then boss of Business NSW, Stephen Cartwright, pictured in 2015.Credit: Christopher Pearce

An expenses report for the agent-general, obtained by Channel Seven under freedom of information laws, shows Cartwright’s expenses between September 2021 and June 2022 totalled $113,648.

A one-month trip to Sydney in May, after he had been in London for three months, was priced at $16,000. Accommodation costs were $68,437, while $20,172 was spent on “miscellaneous” expenses that included newspaper subscriptions and travel.

The agent-general also received a one-off relocation allowance capped at $60,000, in addition to his $487,000 salary.

While Cartwright walked away from negotiations with a $600,000 package that included expenses – higher than any other trade commissioner – Brown said he had expected $800,000 when his appointment was transferred to her agency from NSW Treasury.

“There seemed to be unmatched expectations between the candidate and what I saw as within my delegation to be able to sign off on,” she told the inquiry during her third appearance.

“I had to deliver some hard messages to the candidate, [that] some of the conversations that had happened previously weren’t going to turn out to be the reality.”

Brown said she did not know where Cartwright’s expectations had come from, since she was not able to pay more than $487,000 under the government sector employment act.

“In my mind, it was a difference in interpretation. [But] rereading the correspondence, I can’t be certain of that,” she said.

Brown said she had conversations with then-premier Gladys Berejiklian and then-treasurer Dominic Perrottet’s offices because she thought a “salary that high for any public service role is ridiculous”.

She said Berejiklian’s office agreed that the figure – which Labor said would have made Cartwright the state’s second-highest paid public servant – was unrealistic.

However, Perrottet’s chief of staff Bran Black told her to consider paying a “private sector size salary”.

“He said, you know, we haven’t had anyone in country for a long time and let’s make sure we choose someone of high calibre.”

“[It was a] strong opinion,” Brown said. “I got the impression that I should consider the candidate’s requests very seriously.”

In a statement after Brown’s evidence, Black said he made it clear that while the “trade commissioner roles were very important and represented an excellent opportunity for the state”, $800,000 was an excessive salary.

Instead, he said he suggested a base salary of $400,000 and an incentive component of $200,000. “I did not tell Ms Brown to pay Mr Cartwright at private sector levels. I did not tell Ms Brown that she should take his remuneration requests seriously,” Black said. He also did not raise it with Perrottet, who was treasurer at the time.

Brown said her negotiations with Cartwright felt “threatening” when they continued into October, after Perrottet had become premier.

“It was at that point he was saying that he would talk to [Department of Premier and Cabinet secretary] Michael Coutts-Trotter, or even the minister or the premier,” she said.

“It was actually the name of the premier that jumped out at me ... I found it quite threatening.”

Brown told the inquiry that Cartwright sought the intervention of Ayres via WhatsApp in March this year, regarding his concerns about how his pay was structured.

She said it was “highly inappropriate” for him to go above her head as an employer, but that Ayres did not exert any pressure.

“[Ayres] contacted me and said: Look, you can do what you like because Mr Cartwright is your employee, I just want to give you a heads up [that] I’ve got this message,” she said.

“I’m not telling you what to do and I really don’t care about the outcome, basically.”

Brown said she later made “a few passing comments” about the issue to her boss, Coutts-Trotter. “It was more of a whinge,” she said.

The Herald sent questions to Cartwright through his employer, Investment NSW. A spokesperson said the agency was unable to comment.

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