Don Farrell defends ‘Labor mate’ appointment amid claims of ‘hypocrisy’

The trade minister says Chris Ketter appointment as Austrade role in ‘best interests of Australia’ despite never applying for the job and overlooking a female preferred candidate.

Trade Minister Don Farrell. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Kelly Barnes

Trade Minister Don Farrell claims he followed “usual processes” and made a decision “in the best interests of Australia” when he appointed a little-known former Labor senator to a plum US trade post, overturning a merit-based recruitment process that had picked a high-ranking female ­Austrade executive for the job.

Senator Farrell said on Thursday he was very comfortable with the appointment in July of Chris Ketter, a former one-term Labor senator and Farrell friend, to the position of Australia’s next senior trade and investment commissioner and consul-general in San Francisco.

The Trade Minister’s comments followed The Australian ­revealing that Kirstyn Thomson, head of the Americas investment desk at the Australian Trade and Investment Commission, known as Austrade, had been the “preferred candidate” for the job after applying when it was advertised last year.

Earlier this year, Senator Farrell intervened to pick Mr Ketter in place of her. Mr Ketter did not apply for the job when it was advertised last year and has no experience in trade investment.

He served one six-year term as a Labor Senate backbencher after 32 years as a union official with the Queensland branch of Senator Farrell’s former shopworkers’ union. Since losing his seat in 2019, he has worked as a staffer to Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles.

Ms Thomson, who applied for the San Francisco position when it was advertised in September last year and was told she was the “preferred candidate” for the job, has headed Austrade’s Americas investment desk since 2021. She has more than two decades of expertise in trade and investment.

Former Labor senator Chris Ketter. Picture: AAP

The Ketter appointment was made by Senator Farrell and approved by cabinet, despite Foreign Minister Penny Wong declaring last November that the Albanese government would move away from Morrison government political appointments to “more qualified senior officials”.

Amid opposition and Greens claims of Labor “hypocrisy” on Thursday following The Australian’s report, Senator Farrell said in parliament that he had “very publicly” announced in July that the job vacancy in San Francisco would be filled by Mr Ketter.

“We have followed all of the usual processes that apply in terms of the selection of people who represent us in these missions overseas,” he said. “And I’m very comfortable, I have to say, with the appointment of Mr Ketter.”

While not addressing whether or not Ms Thomson applied for the San Francisco post and was identified as the preferred candidate, Senator Farrell said he understood she had “made an application for a number of positions”.

He confirmed Ms Thomson had been since appointed as the government’s senior Austrade representative in Singapore.

“All of these processes were conducted in the proper way,” he said. “We made, or I made, a decision based on what I thought was in the best interests of Australia in its San Francisco mission.”

Kirstyn Thomson.

Opposition senator Jane Hume asked Senator Farrell if Austrade was forced to provide Ms Thomson an “alternative opportunity” to avoid paying her compensation for the ministerial cancellation of a merit-based selection process.

She also asked the senator to confirm The Australian’s further revelation that Ms Thomson had been recently put in the position of training Mr Ketter for his San Francisco position – after he displaced her for the job.

“Well, can I say Ms Thomson will be a wonderful representative (in Singapore) like so many hardworking members of Austrade,” the minister said.

Opposition trade spokesman Kevin Hogan accused Senator Farrell of “hypocrisy” after NSW Labor launched a heavy attack last year on the NSW Coalition government for appointing former deputy premier John Barilaro to a NSW trade post in New York – despite a senior public servant Jenny West being previously picked as the “best candidate” for the job.

Mr Barilaro ultimately did not take up the position, saying it was untenable while also denying any wrongdoing.

Mr Hogan said: “Austrade ran a proper process and put forward a preferred candidate, a high-ranking official with two decades experience in trade but Farrell dumped her to appoint his mate Chris Ketter.”

Greens leader Adam Bandt branded Mr Ketter’s posting more “jobs for the boys” after Labor had promised to end them.

Treasurer Jim Chalmers defended Senator Farrell’s decision, saying Mr Ketter was a “person of substance” and “incredibly experienced across government, in the defence industry and in the technology sector”.