NSW ministers will be barred from taking public sector jobs related to their portfolios for 18 months after leaving office.
NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet announced the crackdown on ministers’ future job prospects after getting an independent review into the recruitment of former deputy premier John Barilaro to a lucrative trade envoy job.
“The process was just flawed from the outset,” he told reporters on Tuesday.
The much-touted review into the bungled appointment was conducted by former NSW Public Service commissioner Graeme Head.
“The entire process that has been undertaken has been incredibly disappointing,” the premier said.
He flagged a crackdown to the ministerial code of conduct “to prevent for a period of 18 months a minister from accepting any offer of employment within a public sector agency that reported to them in the previous two years as a minister”.
Mr Perrottet stopped short of blaming public servants for the saga that saw Mr Barilaro appointed as the New York-based commissioner with an annual salary of $500,000, ahead of public servant Jenny West.
The premier said he was sorry the affair, which has hobbled his government for over two months, had caused “distress” to several people, without identifying who.
Mr Barilaro relinquished the position two weeks after it was announced amid allegations of “jobs for the boys”, conceding his appointment was untenable and a distraction.
The review did not find that Mr Barilaro broke any rules.
However, Mr Perrottet said he still wanted to appoint a series of trade commissioners in key locations around the world.
“I certainly want these roles to have the utmost confidence in the public mindset because they are incredibly important in driving trade and investment into NSW,” he maintained.
Mr Head’s review made eight findings and 13 recommendations which the government said it would adopt.
By Farid Farid in Sydney
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