John Barilaro, the former deputy premier of NSW, engaged into a contentious argument with Labor MPs during an investigation concerning his selection for a lucrative $500,000 New York position.
Both parties expressed outrage about the timing of his departure from the NSW Parliament and the Liberal-National cabinet’s response to a request to alter the selection procedure for the position.
Labor lawmakers said that since Mr. Barilaro was examined by the Independent Commission Against Corruption on September 10, 2021, in private, he knew about former premier Gladys Berejiklian’s resignation beforehand.
I will categorically repudiate that repulsive slander and charge, Mr. Barilaro said.
The next question was, “What part of it is disgusting?” You’re painting me as corrupt, he retorted.
Later, Mr. Barilaro claimed that he was the victim, not the offender.
Labor’s Daniel Mookhey responded to the cabinet proposal, saying: “It does appear like the cabinet submission was actually being put up hastily because you knew that at some stage (Ms Berejiklian) was going to have to quit.” Mr. Barilaro would finally be appointed to the position.
We must essentially draw the conclusion that Mr. Barilaro is one of the luckiest persons in NSW politics if we are to trust your account of events.
‘Actually, (I’m) the unluckiest guy in NSW politics, I’d say, because of that chain of events,’ Mr. Barilaro said.
“I must be the most powerful guy in NSW,” said the man who convinced the whole cabinet to endorse a proposal.
Amy Brown, the CEO of Investment NSW, was questioned about hiring Jennifer Lugsdin, a former employee and Mr. Barilaro’s girlfriend, when she returned in the afternoon to give testimony for the third time.
Ms. Brown said that Ms. Lugsdin began working for Investment NSW on August 16, 2021, after being employed through a contractor.
She was questioned about her recollection of what Mr. Barilaro had said to her about Ms. Lugsdin.
In response, she said, “He indicated that there was a senior media advisor in his office who was searching for new possibilities and that he’d heard via the grapevine that we were growing up our media and communications staff.”
I told him that was probably the case and that she was free to apply for positions.
Ms. Brown made it clear that Mr. Barilaro didn’t mention any personal or business connections he had with Ms. Lugsdin.
Mr. Barilaro had previously said that he did not recall the exact time that chat with Ms. Brown occurred, but that he was not dating Ms. Lugsdin at the time.
While serving as trade minister or deputy premier, he said, “I was not seeing her.”
Following media allegations concerning Ms Lugsdin’s connection with Mr. Barilaro, Ms. Brown said that Investment NSW requested Ms. Lugsdin to declare a conflict of interest in December 2021.
However, there are no records of it really occurring. Most likely because we terminated her job with us on December 22—just a few days later—she said.
When Mr. Barilaro returns on Friday, according to Labor MP Penny Sharpe, the opposition will present evidence demonstrating that Ms. Lugsdin was engaged in press releases promoting the New York trade role.
She said, “We’re signaling that we will be spending more time on this, which is how (Mr. Barilaro) found out about the position.
Someone you are dating definitely knew about the numerous procedures involved in the advertisement and the requirements of the job.
Later, according to Ms. Brown, the chief of staff to the then-treasurer, Dominic Perrottet, advised him to think about offering a “private sector scale remuneration” to a candidate for the post of London agent-general.
She said that she spoke with the employee over the phone about pay discussions for the London position, where the candidate had $800,000 in expectations.
“I guess the first justification for my phone call was (that) a pay that high for any public service post is ludicrous,” said Ms. Brown.
Ms. Brown said she was urged to think about providing more money even though she was prohibited from doing so under the government sector employment statute.
They just advised her to keep in mind the significance of the position and the potential, and that if she wanted to attract candidates of high caliber, she would need to receive compensation comparable to that found in the private sector.
Earlier, Mr. Barilaro said that once Ms. Berejiklian resigned as the state premier, he decided to retire on the first weekend of October 2021.
“As I stated, I would have continued on for who knows how long if the events of (that day) hadn’t happened… Some of my coworkers had been pleading with me not to retire,’ he said.
He said, “I simply couldn’t do it longer, emotionally and psychologically, and I made that obvious on the day I quit.”
Then, Labor MP John Graham cited a document that Mr. Barilaro had submitted as part of a legal proceeding and in which he claimed to have already decided to resign.
The idea was that Mr. Barilaro knew he was about to depart the parliament while still serving in cabinet but kept it a secret from his colleagues.
Around the same time, the Liberal-National government addressed a request to alter the hiring procedure for positions in foreign trade.
The hearing, which is taking place in the NSW Parliament, descended into a yelling fight.
Mr. Barilaro said that he was making public the fact that he had always intended to step down.
He just said in his court declaration that he will step down before the next election without giving a specific date.
You’re attempting to suggest that I advocated changing these positions so that they would be advantageous to me right now.
According to Mr. Barilaro, “I was altering these duties depending on leadership meetings based on the desire of various MPs and ministers.”
For me, this wasn’t a cabinet submission.
If Mr. Barilaro could “understand why the public is dubious about this entire procedure,” investigation head and Greens MP Cate Faehrmann queried him.
“I completely understand.” This is the reason I’m willingly here today to explain the procedure,’ he added.
It was an impartial, public service procedure. The fact that you were a member of the legislature in the past does not disqualify you.
I’m the victim, not the culprit, said Mr. Barilaro.
“What went wrong? I took a job that was given to me. I wasn’t participating, therefore I can’t tell you what went on behind closed doors.
Barry O’Farrell, the former premier, was identified as the enigmatic third referee in Mr. Barilaro’s employment application as he started the afternoon session of the inquest.
Mr. Barilaro admitted to the investigation that he regretted “never applying” for the position.
Even though it had previously been revealed that his other two referees were senior public servant Gary Barnes and Australia’s US Ambassador Arthur Sinodinos, Mr. Barilaro was certain that he would not identify the individual until before the hearing stopped for lunch.
But when the investigation restarted, he was able to divulge his identity after getting in touch with Mr. O’Farrell during the pause.
Mr. O’Farrell, according to Mr. Barilaro, “was one of the reasons I went into politics.” He was a dear friend and an inspiration, he said.
I’ve had the good fortune to meet some fantastic folks along the way in my life.
Mr. O’Farrell was aware of my skills and talents. I asked him since he’s been a friend and supporter.
Mr. Barilaro added, “If I had known then what I know today, I would have never applied,” during the morning session. I wouldn’t have entered that s**t show if I had known then what I know now.
The trauma I have endured over the last six to seven weeks, according to Mr. Barilaro, is severe.
Later, he claimed that he “had no extra knowledge that any other applicant wouldn’t have received” while applying for the position.
I deny using information that wasn’t made accessible to anybody else.
When Labor MPs urged Mr. Barilaro to identify the third referee in his application for the New York position, there was a contentious discussion.
Gary Barnes, secretary of the Department of Regional NSW, and Arthur Sinodinos, Australia’s ambassador to the United States, were previously known to be his other two referees.
Mr. Mookhey said that the query was legitimate.
“You are the one who was hired; your referee was quite powerful…” Your references were a very essential element, as is made very obvious in the final report that was signed,’ he stated.
Mr. Barilaro was informed by Ms. Faehrmann that he could eventually be required to respond to the query.
He answered that he would inquire about the referee’s comfort level with being identified during the lunch break.
Mr. Mookhey enquired as to whether Mr. Barnes, whom Mr. Barilaro had placed to his job, was repaying him in any way.
That was “a libel on an a-political public worker,” according to Mr. Barilaro, who is “honest (and) trustworthy.”
Mr. Barilaro said in his opening speech that the upper house probe is “an inquiry to cleanse my character.”
He said that despite being a former member of parliament, he still had a basic right to be presumed innocent.
In the public service hiring process, where I was selected as the preferred candidate by an independent panel based solely on my qualifications, he said, “I refute any suggestions that I sought out any special treatment.”
Mr. Barilaro claimed that the scandal, which also involved three successful female executives, had caused him to endure “what can only be described as a personal hell, unfair and unjust.”
Before Mr. Barilaro received the prestigious trade post in New York, a senior public servant had been originally offered it.
He revealed before the panel on Monday that he first got interested in the New York position in November, after he had made his intention to leave the house known but before he actually departed.
Mr. Barilaro said that in late November, he casually discussed his interest in the role to NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet.
On one of those instances when he checked in on me, I mentioned it and said I’d be interested. Other than “go for it,” he had nothing more to say.
Mr. Barilaro said that at the time, he was unaware that the New York position was open. I simply flagged the potential and notion of a trade role.
Three powerful female executives were involved in the scandal surrounding Mr. Barilaro’s hiring for a position in the New York trade community, and two of them lost a friendship as a result.
Investment NSW executive Amy Brown, the government employee in charge of recruiting for the position, told a parliamentary committee looking into the hiring process that the process had been “confusing” and “disheartening.”
Kimberley Cole, a very successful entrepreneur, and Jenny West, a former executive at NSW Investment and a friend of Ms. Brown’s, have both shown interest in participating in the political drama.
Even after Ms West received a text from Ms Brown confirming she had a job before having it taken away in 2021, complete with champagne and Statue of Liberty emojis, Ms West and Ms Brown still lost out to former NSW deputy premier Mr. Barilaro for the New York position.
The position was re-advertised this year, and Ms Cole was the preferred applicant following interviews, but she fell short of impressing Stuart Ayres, the then trade minister, after only having 12 minutes to speak with him via video link.
The position was eventually filled by Mr. Barilaro, who signed a contract in June but resigned last month in response to criticism.
He said he was unaware that Jenny West had been selected in the initial round of hiring the previous year.
I was unaware that Jenny West had received a job offer. I only learned it through this trial,” he remarked.
Why did Mr. Barilaro sign a brief designating Ms. West as the chosen applicant?
He added, “That has a digital signature on it; it doesn’t have my genuine signature.”
If I didn’t think that was the case, I wouldn’t say it on oath.
He claimed to be a “huge admirer” of Ms. West.
In this thread, I’ll be quite explicit about this.
She was an excellent public servant, a great professional, and she performed well for me in that capacity.
The NSW Liberal-National Coalition government has endured two months of terrible press as a result of the now-abandoned Senior Trade and Investment Commissioner to the Americas position, which has already resulted in the resignation of one minister.
The former deputy leader of the Liberal Party, Mr. Ayres, resigned on Wednesday after it emerged from a draft investigation of the incident that he could have violated the ministerial code of conduct.
Ayres’ intention to resign “follows a briefing I received from the Department of Premier and Cabinet secretary yesterday afternoon,” NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet said last week during a drawn-out press conference.
I then spoke with Mr. Ayres about the matters brought up in that briefing, according to Mr. Perrottet.
Ayres’ compliance with the ministerial code of conduct was a worry highlighted by the draft report, he said.
When I brought up these issues with Mr. Ayres, he offered to resign from the cabinet and from his position as deputy leader of the Parliamentary Liberal Party, according to Mr. Perrottet.
“An inquiry will now be conducted to see whether Mr. Ayres has violated the ministerial code of conduct,” the statement said.
Using the phrase “quite simply, I based my decision-making on the facts that I got,” the Premier gave the impression that Mr. Ayres had no alternative but to resign.
Mr. Barilaro claimed that he ‘genuinely believed’ Mr. Ayres had not assisted him in any way.
He remarked, “I don’t think he was going to fight for me and I think he’s been fairly outspoken about it.”
In only four days, Mr. Ayres was the second minister from NSW to die.
Eleni Petinos, the NSW Fair Trading Minister, was fired by Mr. Perrottet due to claims of bullying.
Ms. Petinos was accused of labeling a member of staff as “ret**ded” and “stupid,” which she vehemently denied.
The NSW Independent Commission Against Corruption also discovered former minister John Sidoti engaged in “serious corrupt conduct” regarding family-owned properties in a terrible couple of months for the Liberal-National Coalition.
Gareth Ward, a Kiama MP, also left the ministry and switched to the opposition benches as a result of a police investigation into him.
In March, Ward was accused of sexually abusing a male and a 17-year-old child, according to the charges.
The government is becoming embroiled in a controversy over the hiring of Mr. Barilaro, a former NSW deputy premier and Nationals leader, for a trade position in the US early this year.
Late last month, after being accosted outside a pub on Sydney’s northern beaches, Mr. Barilaro and his new girlfriend were seen on video lunging at the film crews as a hint that the stress of the situation may have been getting to him.
He was challenged on a night out and got into a fight with two cameramen; authorities are now looking into the highly public altercation.