Agent-general met Barilaro twice in two days before late entry to hiring process

The London agent-general met former deputy premier John Barilaro twice in two days – including at Barilaro’s office in NSW parliament – before he was added late to the recruitment process for the lucrative role and eventually selected over the frontrunning candidate.

But Stephen Cartwright, also the state’s senior trade commissioner to Europe and Israel, denied he received preferential treatment or benefitted from “jobs for mates” as he spoke publicly for the first time since his appointment to the $600,000-a-year position came under scrutiny.

Cartwright’s spending and salary expectations – including that he wanted an allowance to ship his car from Australia to London because he “couldn’t afford” a new one – were pored over during the parliamentary inquiry into his appointment on Wednesday morning.

Agent-general Stephen Cartwright gives evidence via video on Wednesday morning.Credit: NSW Parliament

Cartwright, the former head of the Business NSW lobby group, said Barilaro first raised the agent-general job with him over coffee on February 17 and that he was “taken by complete surprise”. He met again with Barilaro at his parliamentary office on February 18 to confirm his interest.

“[Barilaro] then made it clear during the meeting that he would immediately let the external recruiter know of my interest ... and that he would not have any further involvement in the process,” Cartwright said in his opening statement.

“I was comfortable with this and I never once contacted him, spoke to him or heard from him again during the five-month recruitment process.”

Cartwright also met then-Treasury secretary Mike Pratt on February 19, and was encouraged to “throw [his] hat in the ring”.

Cartwright was announced as agent-general on October 1 and ultimately negotiated a $600,000 package that included expenses – higher than any other trade commissioner.

Under questioning, he said neither Barilaro nor Pratt told him that applications had closed or that a preferred candidate, Paul Webster, had already been chosen.

“If he had said that ... I would have said ‘OK, thank you’ and moved on with my life.

“I was a private sector individual who’d been invited to apply for a role ... and anything that was going on in the background was absolutely not known to me.”

‘I don’t think there’s any way that my appointment can be categorised as jobs for mates because I don’t have any politicians that are mates.’

Stephen Cartwright

Committee chair, Greens MP Cate Faehrmann, asked why it was so urgent for Cartwright to meet Barilaro the next day, rather than calling him.

“I think the urgency was probably more from my perspective because I was having other conversations about other opportunities ... I just felt that this was a conversation that should be had face to face, maybe I’m a little old-fashioned,” Cartwright said.

Faehrmann suggested the personal meetings had given Cartwright “some undue favour” and that it was a “classic example, really, of a jobs-for-the-boys scenario”.

To which Cartwright responded: “I don’t think there’s any way that my appointment can be categorised as jobs for mates because I don’t have any politicians that are mates. I’ve never been part of any political party. I’ve got this job because of my background, my experience and my capability, and I totally reject that assertion. In fact, I’m offended by it.”

He also batted away suggestions the appointment was “payback” for a Business NSW campaign against Labor’s payroll tax policy ahead of the 2019 state election.

The parliamentary inquiry into the government’s trade commissioner roles previously heard evidence from now-departed department secretary Amy Brown that Cartwright expected an $800,000 salary, was “threatening”, and said he would escalate his demands to the premier.

But Cartwright disputed those claims on Wednesday. He said he informed Barilaro of his previous $800,000 salary during their initial coffee meeting, and that the former deputy premier told him the government was open to negotiating for a high-calibre candidate.

“I fear this is where this myth that somehow I was asking, requesting or demanding $800,000 a year that’s been splashed all over the media [comes from],” Cartwright said.

“I received an offer with a base of [$600,000] and substantial contributions of rent and substantial contribution to school fees. I didn’t ask for any of this. This is what was sent to me.”

He admitted to requesting his car be shipped from Sydney to London as part of his relocation arrangement, but insisted his demands were not “unusual” in the context of senior executive recruitment.

Cartwright also said he was not flouting his access to the premier. “It was basically saying: if you don’t have the authority to agree to some of these things, I’m happy to have the conversation with somebody in the authority chain who does,” he said.

But on one occasion, Cartwright contacted then-trade minister Stuart Ayres seeking to resolve his rental arrangements. While Cartwright said he did not hear back from Ayres personally, his issues were resolved afterwards.

Labor MP Daniel Mookhey said Labor had asked Premier Dominic Perrottet to appear before the committee later this month. Perrottet has denied the inquiry’s previous requests to give evidence.

Labor will also call Cartwright back to the inquiry in late November, Mookhey said.

The Morning Edition newsletter is our guide to the day’s most important and interesting stories, analysis and insights. Sign up here.