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Tuesday, November 5, 2024

NSW government keeps John Barilaro job documents in-house

A tranche of documents relating to the appointment of former deputy premier John Barilaro to a lucrative international trade position will not be seen by the public.

The official documents and emails, which appear to include Mr Barilaro’s employment agreement and contract variations, have been reserved for politicians’ eyes only.

The documents, emails and invoices were requested under Standing Order 52 and ruled privileged by government lawyers, meaning they can be viewed only by members of the upper house.

The papers include a series of documents from June 30, including signed copies of an employment agreement, an Investment NSW relocation letter and an offer letter.

Investment NSW chief executive Amy Brown was also sent a briefing on the appointment on June 30.

Mr Barilaro’s appointment as the state’s senior trade commissioner to the Americas was announced last month after he was verbally offered the job in May.

Many of the June 30 documents have file names partially redacted, and they have been marked privileged for public interest immunity, cabinet-in-confidence and personal information reasons.

On July 1, a document titled “NSW’s first trade statement maps way for global success” was delivered.

Mr Barilaro resigned from politics three days after an October 1 statement was issued that referred to the six global trade commissioner roles.

In the statement, the then deputy premier said the work was under way on appointing the commissioners, who would “facilitate new export growth opportunities and open doors for NSW businesses overseas”.

Another candidate for the role, former deputy secretary for Investment NSW Jenny West, told an upper house inquiry on Monday she was verbally offered the role on August 12.

In September, her role was put on hold after a request came from Mr Barilaro’s office to convert the role into a ministerial appointment.

Ms West’s job offer was withdrawn on October 1, three days before Mr Barilaro announced his retirement.

The opposition intends make a request for the documents to be made public, AAP understands.

On Tuesday, 85 pages of documents provided by Ms West were made public, including emails and diary notes she kept from meetings with Ms Brown.

The documents also include a briefing note signed by former premier Gladys Berejiklian offering Ms West the role.

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