Dominic Perrottet stands by Stuart Ayres over John Barilaro NY posting

NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet has stared down furious Coalition colleagues and refused to sack his deputy, Stuart Ayres.

NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet, centre, leaves a meeting in Sydney with ministers, including Matt Kean and Bronnie Taylor. Picture: Richard Dobson

NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet has stared down furious Coalition colleagues and refused to sack his deputy, Stuart Ayres, amid revelations former deputy premier John Barilaro was officially ranked below other contenders for a $500,000 foreign posting he ultimately won.

A new tranche of documents on Monday revealed Mr Barilaro was not the highest ranked candidate after the second round of ­interviews for the New York trade posting in March, and that a ­report on the qualifications for each candidate was edited later to bolster the former NSW Nationals ­leader’s credentials.

Just seven months out from a state election and after 10 days overseas on a trade mission to Asia, Mr Perrottet was forced on Monday to deal with both questions over Mr Ayres’s position and the call to sack former frontbencher Eleni Petinos over bullying claims.

Despite Mr Ayres being the minister ultimately responsible for Mr Barilaro’s appointment to the New York role, Mr Perrottet refused to say he would remove him from cabinet.

“I instigated an independent ­review … I expect to receive that review very shortly. As I’ve said, when I receive that review I will make it public, and I will take appropriate action,” the Premier said.

He insisted there was a categorical difference between his treatment of sacked Small Business Minister Ms Petinos, and his ongoing support for Mr Ayres, ­despite growing belief among his MPs that the deputy Liberal leader’s position was untenable.

One Liberal MP, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said talk surrounding whether Mr Perrottet would make it to the March election had intensified over the last week – conversations that simply weren’t on anyone’s radar a month ago.

“If this was federal politics they would already be collecting signatures for a leadership ballot by now,” they said.

The problem, they said, was the lack of an obvious successor, noting Rob Stokes garnered only five votes during the last leadership spill after Gladys Berejiklian resigned last October.

Another senior Liberal MP downplayed the prospects of a leadership spill, but said they ­expected Mr Ayres would be moved out of the trade and investment portfolios in a minor reshuffle, while also losing his position as deputy leader.

The independent report into Mr Barilaro’s appointment was expected to drop on Wednesday, the MP revealed.

Mr Ayres declared he has “no intention” of standing aside over the growing New York trade posting scandal insisting he did not have the legal recourse to direct Investment NSW to hire Mr Barilaro to the $500,000-a-year role despite his role as Minister for Trade and Tourism.

Selection panel reports from March show Kimberley Cole was considered to “exceed” expectations in the areas of working collaboratively and managing and developing people, categories the panel believed Mr Barilaro would just “meet”.

But the panel report dated June 15, one week after Mr Barilaro signed the contract for the plum position, was edited to bolster his credentials and he was bumped into top position ahead of Ms Cole, despite none of the candidates being reinterviewed.

The reason for the updated recommendation, Mr Ayres said on Monday, was because Investment NSW chief executive Amy Brown “did not believe” the initial conclusion was accurate.

Mr Perrottet on Monday said he had sacked Ms Petinos after becoming aware of more claims of bullying and harassment made against her, saying he concluded that the ­Miranda MP’s office was “unsafe”.

“I cannot be in a position as Premier where a ministerial staffer or a member of the public service … does not feel safe,” said Mr Perrottet, revealing the department was working to implement additional HR measures for Ms Petinos’ electorate office staff.