John Barilaro took $50,000, taxpayer-funded American trip with adviser

Former deputy premier John Barilaro took a taxpayer-funded trip to the US worth almost $54,000 just months after he allegedly said he wanted the NSW NY trade post.

Former NSW deputy premier John Barilaro. Picture: NCA Newswire / Gaye Gerard

Former NSW deputy premier John Barilaro took a taxpayer-funded trip to the US valued at ­ almost $54,000 just months after he allegedly declared the state’s re-established lucrative trade commissioner postings were an opportunity to “get the f..k out of” politics.

In his capacity as NSW Trade Minister, Mr Barilaro went on a week-long overseas jaunt to Missouri and California in August 2019, four months after he allegedly told his then chief of staff Mark Connell he would “get” the NSW government to move the trade headquarters from California to New York.

Accompanied by Mr Connell and senior bureaucrat Gary Barnes, the eight-day trip cost taxpayers $53,639.77. A government diary submission reveals Mr Barilaro took another trip to the US in March the year before, costing taxpayers just under $34,000. In total, the two trips for Mr Barilaro and his entourage cost almost $88,000.

In an explosive submission to the parliament inquiry into his ex-bosses appointment, Mr Connell alleged Mr Barilaro told him he would “get them to put one (a trade commissioner HQ) in New York, that’s where I’m off to”.

The stated purpose of the US trip, according to the government diary submission, was to “highlight NSW sector export capabilities to world leading agtech, aerospace and defence and technology firms”, and “create connections for commercial outcomes”.

Mr Barilaro told The Weekend Australian on Friday: “Just like previous deputy premiers, trade ministers and ministers, I had the opportunity to travel to markets that are important to NSW. In that role, I travelled to the USA, China and Vietnam.”

Opposition Treasury spokesman Daniel Mookhey said the trips “raises more questions” about Mr Barilaro’s motivations for travelling to the US, claiming it was “highly unusual” for a state government minister to visit the same country twice in such proximity.

“I definitely think that Mr Barilaro, and to be fair the government, has questions to answer here about why Mr Barilaro was jetting off to New York within months of the government’s re-election,” he said.

“And it will raise questions about whether or not his intention in travelling to New York back in 2019 was what he said it was.”

Mr Barilaro has previously ­rejected Mr Connell’s allegations, labelling them “fictitious, false” and a “reminder as to why we had to part ways”.

The former National’s leader, who quit politics last October, ­decided against proceeding with his appointment, saying it was untenable given the level of media ­attention it had garnered.

With Labor pushing the Perrottet government to release a ­second cache of requested documents linked to Mr Barilaro’s ­appointment to the $500,000-a-year position, the Premier told ­reporters in Tokyo that his expectation was that “all documents are provided as quickly as possible”.

Mr Perrottet, however, stood firm on his decision not to appear in front of the inquiry into Mr Barilaro’s appointment, reiterating he would face questions during budget estimates in late August.

“The upper house can have an inquiry and that’s incredibly important,” said Mr Perrottet, who is on a 10-day trade mission to Japan, South Korea and India.

“My job is to get the facts and have the recommendations and that’s the public expectation in ­relation to (the review). That’s the way of instilling public confidence in the process.”