‘Job for the boys’: report slams John Barilaro’s New York trade post

John Barilaro’s New York trade commissioner appointment displayed ‘all the trademarks of a job for the boys’ position’, parliamentary report concludes.

John Barilaro’s appointment as NSW trade commissioner to New York had the appearance of a ‘job for the boys’, a report found. John Feder/The Daily Telegraph.

The appointment of John Barilaro as the state’s $500,000-a-year New York trade commissioner displays “all the trademarks of a ‘job for the boys’ position”, while former NSW cabinet minister Stuart Ayres was not at arm’s length during the process, an upper house parliamentary report has concluded.

The former deputy premier, Mr Barilaro’s appointment as the senior trade investment commissioner to the US sparked a furore after it was announced in late June last year, with an inquiry established by Labor and the Greens to probe the processes that led to the decision.

Months of evidence led Mr Ayres, then the relevant minister, to lose his suite of portfolio responsibilities as he was dumped to the backbench by Premier Dominic Perrottet in August, who conceded Mr Barilaro’s appointment had not been conducted at arm’s length.

Two subsequent investigations – one by former NSW public service commissioner Grame Head; and another by barrister Bruce McClintock – commissioned by the premier subsequently cleared Mr Ayres of breaching the ministerial code, with the latter finding he had “complied with his obligations”.

But the public accountability committee’s report, handed down two months after the final hearing in early December, disagreed with Mr McClintock’s assessment, concluding Mr Ayres had not been at arm’s length” during the recruitment process for the STIC positions.

As part of a 93-page report, committee members also found Mr Barilaro’s appointment displayed “all the trademarks of a ‘job for the boys’ position”.

“When answering questions on the appointment of Mr John Barilaro to the STIC Americas position, former Minister Stuart Ayres misled the public. It is a matter for the Legislative Assembly as to whether former Minister Ayres misled the Parliament,” the report said.