Stuart Ayres resigns, accused of influencing public servant

Stuart Ayres resigned as deputy Liberal leader and his portfolios after a confidential briefing raised questions about whether he breached ministerial conduct amid the John Barilaro trade job saga.

Premier Dominic Perrottet and former Minister Stuart Ayres came to a mutual agreement on Tuesday night that the Penrith MP would need to resign from cabinet and as deputy Liberal party leader after a confidential briefing which raised questions about whether Mr Ayres had influence over a public-sector recruitment process.

The decision, which brings to an end Mr Ayres’ nine-year ministerial career, came after the Premier was provided with parts of a draft report into former deputy premier John Barilaro’s appointment to a $500,000-a-year New York trade role.

Mr Ayres marks the second minister to be dumped from cabinet in just four days, further damaging the government just seven months from the election.

The draft findings, which former public service commissioner Graeme Head emailed to Department of Premier and Cabinet secretary Michael Coutts-Trotter for Mr Perrottet’s attention, raised questions about whether Mr Ayres breached the Ministerial Code of Conduct in relation to the New York trade role.

The Daily Telegraph understands the questions raised relate to Section 5 of the code, relating to what direction a minister is allowed to provide the public service.

Stuart Ayres pictured leaving his Mulgoa home on Wednesday after resigning. Picture: David Swift

“The issues in the review go directly to the engagement of Mr Ayres with the department secretary in respect of the recruitment process,” Mr Perrottet said on Wednesday.

The Daily Telegraph understands that the concerns raised did not explicitly relate to Mr Barilaro’s appointment, but related to whether the ­former minister Mr Ayres influenced Investment NSW boss Amy Brown and her decision making.

Amy Brown, Secretary, Department of Enterprise, Investment and Trade, and Chief Executive Officer, Investment NSW during the inquiry. Picture: Dan Himbrechts

Mr Perrottet conceded on Wednesday that parts of Mr Head’s draft report have already made it “clear” that Mr Barilaro’s recruitment was not independent of the ­government.

“Mr Ayres disputes that (and) believes that he was always acting within his ministerial responsibilities in relation to that process,” Mr Perrottet said.

Mr Ayres, who denies wrongdoing, will stay on in parliament as Penrith MP, sparing the government a bruising by-election in the marginal seat. He said he resigned “to maintain the integrity of the cabinet”.

The Premier defended his handling of the fiasco which has been damaging the government for weeks.

“I base my decision making on the information that I received,” he said.

“I have a moral and ethical framework in which I make decisions. And the moment I start making decisions because of media pressure, or political pressure, I shouldn’t be in this job.”

Dominic Perrottet at a presser in Sydney today to announce that Stuart Ayres has stood down, Picture: David Swift

The announcement came just an hour before Ms Brown fronted a parliamentary inquiry into Mr Barilaro’s appointment, where she said Mr Ayres was “not at arm’s length of the process” as the former minister has repeatedly claimed.

“In my view he was, there were multiple intersection points,” she told the hearing.

Ms Brown told the inquiry that Mr Ayres had on multiple occasions praised Mr Barilaro’s credentials for the job and acted as an “informal referee”. She recalled Mr Ayres saying: “If a trade minister can’t represent NSW for trade, who can?”

On separate occasions, Ms Brown said Mr Ayres told her “I think he could be quite good” and that he would have “positive attributes”. She also recalled Mr Ayres saying: “Given he (Mr Barilaro) had been trade ­minister, I would suspect he would have relevant experience to represent the NSW government’s interests internationally on matters of trade.”

Ms Brown said Mr Ayres’ comment carried “some weight” in her decision making. She added that she did not know who told Mr Barilaro he was hired for the job. Despite being the hiring manager, she was not the one to tell him he had the job.

She said she does not know if Mr Ayres told him.

Embattled MP Stuart Ayres has resigned. Picture: David Swift

Ms West, the first woman who lost out on the role, was involved in the recruitment of the job she later applied for according to evidence from Ms Brown who gave her blessing for her to “throw her hat in the ring”.

“Ms West was running the recruitment process for all of the appointments... Applications for the role closed on the 26th of April and she applied for the role late on the 12th of May,” she said.

Ms Brown said Ms West didn’t “recuse” herself of the other processes but was removed from the recruitment on June 23.

Ms Brown said Ms West had contacted the and asked her if she could apply and Ms Brown did not raise any objections.

NSW Opposition Leader Chris Minns at NSW Parliament House. Picture: Dean Lewins

The evidence formed the basis of the government’s main line of attack -- a claim that Ms West had a “head start” in the role because she had written the role description.

Labor leader Chris Minns welcomed Mr Ayres’ resignation, accusing the government of ignoring the people of NSW amid the scandal.

“Minister Ayres was taking up a lot of attention,” he said. “That attention deserves to be with the people of NSW.”

A new Deputy Liberal Leader will be elected by the party room on Tuesday.

MPs fear Barilaro report has been tabled

Earlier, government sources said the announcement could be off the back of an independent report into the saga finally being tabled to the premier.

Investment NSW chief executive Amy Brown is returning to the inquiry to give more evidence after a trove of secret documents raised more questions about how Mr Barilaro was selected for the job.

Dismayed Liberals increasingly thought before Mr Ayres resigned that should stand aside from the Ministry and as the Deputy Leader over his role in the worsening Trade Commissioner scandal, as Mr Ayres for the first time said that he would have handled the saga differently if he had his time again.

Ayres earlieur said he would have handled the John Barilaro, pictured, saga differently if he had his time again. Picture: NCA Newswire/ Gaye Gerard.

But despite internal chatter about who could take over from Mr Ayres as Deputy Liberal Leader, no clear contender has emerged.

Pleas from Premier Dominic Perrottet for patience appear to have been heeded, with the findings of a review from former public service commissioner Graeme Head set to decide Mr Ayres’ fate.

Liberals expected that Mr Perrottet could receive Mr Head’s report as early as Wednesday.

Mr Ayres on Tuesday conceded that if that report finds he has done the wrong thing, his ministerial position would be untenable.

However, Mr Ayres said that if he is cleared by the Head report, that should be the end of the matter.

One Liberal told The Daily Telegraph that Mr Head’s report “has to be emphatic” in clearing Mr Ayres of wrongdoing for the Trade Minister to survive.

The MP said that Mr Ayres may face a challenge for the deputy role at a party room meeting on Tuesday, describing next week’s parliamentary sitting as a potential “killing season” – as politicians will only be back at Macquarie Street for one week before another break.

NSW Minister for Infrastructure Rob Stokes texted Mr Ayres last week urging him to consider his position. Picture: Mick Tsikas/Pool/Getty Images

However they said no-one is yet directly canvassing support against Mr Ayres.

There is some concern that if Mr Ayres is forced to resign, Mr Perrottet could face collateral damage further weakening the government’s position.

“If it was Canberra they’d be collecting signatures (for a spill) by now,” the MP said.

The Telegraph revealed on Tuesday that Infrastructure and Cities Minister Rob Stokes texted Mr Ayres last week urging him to consider his position after documents revealed that Mr Ayres knew public servant Jenny West had been deemed the “successful candidate” for the New York trade role.

Mr Ayres continued to maintain on Tuesday that he did not influence the recruitment process which led to former Deputy Premier John Barilaro being appointed to a $500,000-a-year trade role in New York.

‘I SHOULD HAVE TOLD HIM NOT TO APPLY’

However Mr Ayres conceded that he should have told Mr Barilaro not to apply for the job.

“When John Barilaro asked me about this role, I should have told him that even though he’s a private citizen … it was probably not in his best interests – or the state’s best interests – to apply,” he said.

Meanwhile, The Daily Telegraph can reveal that taxpayers are paying almost $10,000 per month to rent an office in New York despite having no Trade and Investment Commissioner to work there.

Answers provided by Investment NSW CEO Amy Brown to a parliamentary inquiry have revealed that it cost more than $940,000 to fit out the office, within the Australian Consulate in New York.

The lease is costing USD $6868 per month – or AUD $9,827.

Ms Brown will give evidence to a parliamentary inquiry into Mr Barilaro’s appointment for a second time on Wednesday.

The Telegraph also revealed on Tuesday that Mr Barilaro asked Mr Ayres about applying for the New York trade role in December last year, while he was still employed as an MP.

“Weeks before John Barilaro quit the parliament and created a million dollar by-election, he was talking with Stuart Ayres about his next job,” Labor Treasury spokesman Daniel Mookhey said.

In a statement, the Department of Premier and Cabinet said Mr Head’s report is “expected to be finalised in the coming days”.

Originally published as Stuart Ayres resigns, accused of influencing public servant