Dominic Perrottet in John Barilaro ‘jobs for mates’ row

The NSW Premier has been dragged into a potential scandal over his unilateral appointment of former deputy premier John Barilaro to a New York trade post.

Dominic Perrottet has appointed John Barilaro to a New York trade post with a $600,000 salary package. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Jeremy Piper

NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet has been dragged into a potential scandal over his unilateral appointment of former deputy premier John Barilaro to a New York trade post with a $600,000 salary package as his government releases a state budget pitched at winning election votes.

Mr Perrottet’s office confirmed on Monday that Mr Barilaro would be the first person appointed to the NSW government job of senior trade and investment commissioner to the Americas in New York – a post created by Mr Barilaro when he was the state’s trade minister.

The NSW government announced the appointment in a statement late on Friday, eight months after Mr Barilaro quit politics.

The announcement came amid an unprecedented stream of big-spending measures on housing affordability, early education, childcare and transport which have been leaked by Mr Perrottet’s government and attracted headlines ahead of Tuesday’s NSW budget.

Mr Perrottet’s decision to go it alone with Mr Barilaro’s appointment to a plum New York post without seeking cabinet approval has rankled ministers and backbenchers on his own side.

The matter is also set to come under intense public scrutiny after Labor banded with the Greens and Shooters and Fishers Party in the NSW upper house to refer the matter to a formal inquiry by the NSW parliament’s public accountability committee.

The inquiry’s terms of reference, drawn up by Labor’s upper house leader Penny Sharpe on Monday, will include investi­gating how Mr Barilaro emerged as the best candidate from what Mr Perrottet has called “a global recruitment process” and why the appointment was Mr Perrottet’s alone without going to cabinet as normally required according to the Cabinet Practice Handbook.

The inquiry is also expected to investigate why the New York job was allegedly not filled when applications were opened and closed in a first round, why the application process was reopened, and whether there were candidates other than Mr Barilaro.

“We think this appointment stinks,” Ms Sharpe told The Australian. “It’s a sign the government is more interested in jobs for their friends while people are doing it tough in the community.”

Mr Barilaro’s job will come with a $450,000-a-year salary, a $112,950 annual cost-of-living ­allowance, two taxpayer-funded business class return-flights home a year, and superannuation on top.

All up, the package is worth more than $600,000, considerably more than Mr Barilaro earned as deputy premier and leader of the NSW Nationals.

When asked about the appointment at a press conference on Saturday, Mr Perrottet said it came as no surprise to him that Mr Barilaro was chosen by “the independent process” as “by far the most outstanding candidate” and was therefore recommended by the selection panel to the ­government.

He said he expected Mr Bari­laro would do a “brilliant job”.

The Premier’s office said on Monday the Barilaro job was one of a series of international trade jobs for the NSW government created about two years ago when Mr Barilaro was trade minister.

His appointment was the last of two announced late on Friday – the other was Helen Sawczak as senior trade and investment commissioner to Greater China.

Asked for further information, Mr Perrottet’s office referred the matter to NSW Minister for Investment and Trade, Stuart Ayres.

Mr Ayres’s office did not respond to several requests seeking comment.

Mr Barilaro quit last October, attributing his exit to stress over a defamation case involving YouTube comedian Jordan Shanks.

He was awarded a $715,000 defamation payout this month against Google for broadcasting Shanks’s material.