Stuart Ayres ‘met John Barilaro ahead of New York job’

An internal Investment NSW briefing note says Trade Minister Stuart Ayres met with John Barilaro and ‘supported his appointment’ as New York trade commissioner.

NSW Trade Minister Stuart Ayres. Picture: James O’Doherty / Daily Telegraph

An internal Investment NSW briefing note says Trade Minister Stuart Ayres met with John Barilaro and “supported his appointment” as New York trade commissioner, despite claims he did not have a conversation with the former deputy premier about the role as “there was no reason for me to engage”.

Mr Ayres has repeatedly insisted the appointment of Mr Barilaro to the $500,000-a-year job was done at arm’s-length from government, despite trade roles falling under his portfolio.

At a press conference in Mumbai on Thursday with NSW Premier Dom­inic Perrottet, Mr Ayres was asked whether he had a conversation with Mr Barilaro once he was identified as the preferred candidate by Investment NSW for the plum role.

“No, I did not,” he responded. “There is … no reason for me to engage with John Barilaro about the objectives of the NSW government’s trade and investment policies because he has a clear and intimate understanding.”

A briefing note given to Investment NSW chief executive Amy Brown, part of the latest tranche of documents made public as part of the parliamentary inquiry into Mr Barilaro’s appoint­ment, contradicts Mr Ayres’ claim. “Mr Barilaro has now met with the Minister for Enterprise, Trade & Investment, the Hon Stuart Ayres MP, who has supported his appointment,” the briefing note stated.

While a date of the meeting is not included, the departmental briefing is approved and dated on June 16 this year, the day before Mr Ayres publicly announced Mr Bari­laro’s appointment.

Mr Ayres was contacted for comment.

An Investment NSW spokesman later said the briefing cover note was a “clerical error” that had “incorrectly” stated Mr Ayres had met with Mr Barilaro.

Opposition Treasury spokesman Daniel Mookhey attacked Mr Ayres’ contradiction, calling on the deputy Liberal leader to “correct the misleading statements … It is now clear that Stuart has misled the public three times in three days. He has very serious questions to answer about why he’s not telling the truth.”

Pressure has been building on Mr Ayres over the past week after a signed briefing note acknowledging former senior bureaucrat Jenny West had been identified as the successful applicant for the New York trade posting.

The disclosure contradicts what Mr Ayres told parliament in June, when he asserted no suitable applicant had been identified in the first recruitment phase.