Perrottet asked for candidate CVs during search for London trade position

Dominic Perrottet asked to see the CVs of the shortlisted contenders for the contentious agent-general role in London while he was treasurer, even after a preferred candidate had been selected.

Now-Premier Perrottet, who has maintained he had no role in the selection of the agent-general, asked for the information before a meeting that was to be set up with frontrunner Paul Webster. Perrottet ultimately never met with Webster.

NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet.Credit: Brook Mitchell

Despite being the preferred candidate, Webster was not appointed to the role, and former head of lobby group Business NSW Stephen Cartwright, a late entrant to the process, was given the lucrative position.

Webster, who is now the second-in-charge trade commissioner under Cartwright, gave evidence on Monday via video link from London to the parliamentary inquiry into the government’s trade commissioner roles.

The upper house inquiry was launched in June following former deputy premier John Barilaro’s appointment to the New York trade role, from which he later withdrew amid widespread criticism.

Paul Webster is now the second-in-charge trade commissioner under Stephen Cartwright.Credit: LinkedIn

The committee is now focused on the agent-general role after it emerged that Cartwright was a late entrant, had lower scores than other candidates and expected an $800,000 salary. He ultimately negotiated a $600,000 package – higher than any other trade commissioner.

Webster, who is highly experienced in trade between the United Kingdom and NSW, was identified as the preferred candidate just days before Christmas in 2020.

“It was a competitive process but it was far from a complete process in my eyes,” he told the inquiry on Monday, adding he “certainly wasn’t shocked” not to be selected.

Labor’s Daniel Mookhey told the inquiry that documents obtained under a parliamentary order reveal an email from a staff member in Perrottet’s office to the executive assistant to the NSW Treasury secretary the following month. The email said that before proceeding with a meeting with Webster, Perrottet wanted details on the unsuccessful candidates.

Stephen Cartwright, the Agent-General in London, was appointed after a preferred candidate was already selected.Credit: LinkedIn

“The treasurer has requested a short list of other candidates that were interviewed, together with a copy of their résumé. When the info is available, could you please send to me and I’ll forward to the treasurer for his attention,” the staff member wrote in the email, dated January 25, 2021.

Webster told the committee that he never met with Perrottet or then-Deputy Premier John Barilaro.

Marianne Broadbent, managing director of independent recruiter NGS Global, which conducted the hiring process for the trade commissioners, told the inquiry in August that she was asked by then-NSW treasury secretary Mike Pratt to “keep things open” to allow Cartwright to belatedly enter the race. He was appointed to the role in July 2021.

By that stage a selection panel had already determined Webster as the frontrunner, and salary negotiations with him had begun. Broadbent told the inquiry that she later learnt Cartwright had been encouraged to apply by Barilaro, who was deputy premier at the time.

Perrottet was asked on Monday whether he requested to see a shortlist for the agent-general role in London after being advised that Webster was the preferred candidate.

“I don’t know that I was advised of that. I don’t believe I was advised that Paul Webster was the preferred candidate,” Perrottet said.

Cartwright will give evidence via video link from London on Wednesday.

Mookhey said it was clear Perrottet “wasn’t at arms length from the process of choosing the UK agent-general”.

“These emails show he involved himself directly. It’s a clear case of history repeating. An independent process selects a highly qualified candidate like Mr Webster,” Mookhey said. “He is then pushed aside after John Barilaro and Dominic Perrottet decide to recruit their own candidate. Merit didn’t matter. Mr Barilaro and Mr Perrottet’s preferences seem to have mattered more.”

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