John Barilaro, a former deputy premier of NSW, will testify in front of a parliamentary committee looking into how he obtained a taxpayer-funded trade post in New York.
After negotiating an agreement with the government to reveal three sizable tranches of papers pertaining to the nomination of the former NSW Nationals leader, the public accountability committee, according to Labor, has scheduled a number of hearings.
Labor’s Shadow Treasurer Daniel Mookhey said on Thursday: “This is a triumph for the public’s right to know and it’s a failure of the government’s attempt to conceal these papers and the information they contain.”
On August 8, Mr. Barilaro, who was appointed last month as the state’s Senior Trade and Investment Commissioner to the Americas, will at long last provide his perspective to the upper house investigation.
The committee held off calling Mr Barilaro until the government made public all the documents it requested about the controversial appointment.
Mr Barilaro relinquished the role less than two weeks after his appointment was announced, as the political fallout heaped increasing pressure on the Perrottet government.
The inquiry’s hearings will resume on Wednesday when Investment NSW CEO Amy Brown will make a second appearance.
Another hearing will take place on Friday with multiple witnesses called including Mr Barilaro’s former chief-of-staff Siobhan Hamlin, Department of Regional NSW secretary Gary Barnes as well as staff from Investment NSW.
Ms Brown previously told the inquiry she withdrew the $500,000-a-year job offer from her colleague Jenny West after the relationship between Ms West and the government became ‘irreconcilable’.
Mr Mookhey says there are new lines of inquiry to quiz Ms Brown over, and questions remain about whether Investment and Trade Minister Stuart Ayres misled the parliament.
‘Mr Ayres has some very serious questions to be answering,’ Mr Mookhey said.
‘How (was it) possible that he could say in parliament that no suitable candidate was found, when he was told that Jenny West was the successful candidate – after a full recruitment process?
‘He’s either misled the parliament or he’s misled the public.’
The premier of Mumbai, Dominic Perrottet, and Mr. Ayres told reporters on Thursday that he had “absolutely not” deceived the parliament about the hiring procedure.
He said that he had just repeated information that Ms. Brown had provided it to him and that he still had full faith in her.
The pair’s trade mission has been plagued by growing controversy, which has sparked a steady stream of contentious inquiries.
Mr. Ayres denied reports that Ms. West was demoted from her position to make room for Mr. Barilaro.
Mr. Ayres stated on Thursday, “I want to strongly refute that any decisions taken at the conclusion of the recruiting process were premeditated or choreographed to provide a chance for John Barilaro, alright.”
‘That is a preposterous suggestion.’
He stated that Mr. Barilaro applied on his own behalf, that he did not accept calls from his former colleague, and that his status as a former deputy premier did not provide him with an advantage over other candidates for the job.
Mr. Perrottet insisted on supporting the selection, claiming the former deputy premier was the most competent candidate.
The speaker stated, “I think John Barilaro had that experience in NSW and was ultimately selected on merit in an independent procedure, after my advice.
Labor is now focusing on Mr. Ayres’ role in the appointment, according to John Graham, the deputy leader of the opposition in the upper house.
Mr. Graham asserts that there are legitimate concerns regarding whether this appointment was really made at arm’s length.
There are no longer any preparations to recall the NSW Legislative Council on Friday, more than three weeks early, since the government has promised to supply the additional data by Monday.
It follows the release of the footage showing Mr. Barilaro and a cameraman fighting outside a Manly club on Saturday night.
A security guard and the former NSW Nationals leader were spotted in a pub early in the evening eating pizza and drinking beverages.
Later that evening, a Channel Seven reporter got in touch with him to find out why Labor had made it difficult for him to show up for the investigation looking into his employment.
The questions was ignored by Mr. Barilaro, who then lunged at two cameramen. A microphone was flung into a nearby bush by his security.
Later, his new girlfriend and previous media adviser tried to steal the expensive equipment.
Mr. Barilaro and Matt Costello got into a fight after it appeared that the latter was attempting to grab the camera.
Mr. Costello attempted to continue firing while Mr. Barilaro continued to swipe at him while he was being protected by his other hand.
The group then started to withdraw from the argument.
When speaking to 2GB on Monday morning, the former deputy premier of NSW said that the camera and microphone had been shoved in his face.
‘The reality is people are now piling on, harassing, intruding, not allowing me to get on with my life, I’m a private citizen,’ he said.
‘They’ve turned up with a cameraman, I don’t know who it was, all I know is you could see a bright light shining in my bl***y face.’
‘All I did was push a camera out of my way, did not manhandle an individual.’