Dominic Perrottet faces envoy questions

NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet has been called on to face a parliamentary inquiry probing the appointment of John Barilaro as the state’s trade commissioner to the Americas.

NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet. Picture: NCA Newswire / Gaye Gerard

NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet has been called on to face a parliamentary inquiry probing the appointment of former deputy premier John Barilaro as the state’s trade commissioner to the Americas, with Labor saying he has “serious questions” to answer.

The NSW government sparked a scandal in June after announcing Mr Barilaro had been identified as the successful candidate for the $500,000-a-year New York trade posting, with a subsequent upper house inquiry into the appointment revealing a number of irregularities in the recruitment process.

The inquiry then turned its attention to the circumstances surrounding the appointment of Stephen Cartwright as the state’s agent general in London, with the former chief executive of peak body Business NSW providing evidence to the committee on Wednesday morning.

Just four months out from the March state election, shadow treasurer Daniel Mookhey revealed Labor had asked Mr Perrottet to front the parliamentary committee in late November, claiming Mr Cartwright had not obtained the trade envoy meritoriously, and only with the discrete approval of the then treasurer.

“I can confirm that Labor has asked Dominic Perrottet to make an appearance at the upper house inquiry in late November, because we need to hear now directly from Mr Perrottet about his involvement in the selection of Stephen Cartwright as well as his knowledge about the appointment of John Barilaro to the New York position,” Mr Mookhey said.

“The evidence that’s in front of us shows quite clearly that the only reason why Stephen Cartwright got this job was because he was John Barilaro’s pick and apparently with the connivance and agreement of Mr Perrottet when he was treasurer.”

The calls for the Premier to face the inquiry came soon after Mr Cartwright finished providing evidence to the upper house inquiry on Wednesday morning, where he rejected characterisation of his appointment as a “jobs for mates” situation. Mr Cartwright revealed, however, he had met with Mr Barilaro across successive days in February last year.

Mr Cartwright has been the subject of an ongoing NSW parliamentary inquiry into the appointment of the state’s senior trade envoys after he ultimately emerged as the successful candidate for the role after an extensive recruitment process initially identified Paul Webster as the successful applicant.

In a fiery exchange during the upper house inquiry on Wednesday morning, Mr Cartwright took offence at the suggestion he had inappropriately leveraged his political network to obtain the trade commissioner role, saying he had clearly been the most suitable candidate for the role.

“I don’t think there’s any way that my appointment can be categorised as a job for mates because I don’t have any politicians as mates,” he said.

“I’ve never been part of any political party.

“And I’ve got this job because of my background, my experience and my capability.

“I totally reject that assertion, and in fact I’m offended by it.”