Former NSW deputy premier John Barilaro has rejected claims he told his chief-of-staff in 2019 he was going to take a government trade job in New York when he quit politics.
Mr Barilaro’s former staffer says he had the New York job in his sights soon after his appointment as trade minister in 2019.
Mark Connell, who worked for Mr Barilaro from April 2017 until December 2019, has submitted a statement to the parliamentary inquiry into his controversial appointment as trade commissioner to the Americas.
He recounted a conversation with his boss in April 2019 following a meeting Mr Barilaro had with then treasurer Dominic Perrottet and investment minister Stuart Ayres.
“He said, ‘I’ve just come from a meeting with Dom and Stuart regarding trade and we’re going to bring back the Agent General in London as well as a bunch of other postings around the world’.
“He then stated, ‘This is it; this is the job for when I get the f**k out of this place’.”
Premier Dominic Perrottet said numerous discussions took place about the establishment of NSW trade commissioner jobs in 2019.
“At no point in any of those discussions was it ever raised that the former Deputy Premier may want to hold a position as a trade commissioner,” Mr Perrottet said in a statement on Wednesday.
Mr Barilaro said Mr Connell’s claim served as a reminder to why the pair parted ways.
“The conversation he has recalled is fictitious, false,” Mr Barilaro said in a statement.
In his statement to the inquiry Mr Connell said it was mutually agreed he would stop working for Mr Barilaro in December 2019, when his boss stopped taking his advice and sought outside counsel.
Mr Barilaro said if the inquiry was genuinely interested in the truth he should have been called to provide immediate detail on the allegation.
“The continued drip feed of select information from the inquiry into the public domain goes against all procedural fairness,” he said.
Mr Connell said he told Mr Barilaro the London posting would be filled before his retirement.
“Mr Barilaro then said, ‘I don’t want to go to London, f**k that, I’m off to New York,'” Mr Connell said.
“Mr Barilaro responded and stated, ‘I’ll get them to put one in New York, that’s where I’m off to’.”
NSW Opposition Leader Chris Minns said Mr Connell’s statement confirmed what many suspected.
“If true then this position was created for a friend, that the selection process was rigged and that there’s been a month-long cover up to prevent the people of NSW getting access to the real information,” Mr Minns told reporters.
Labor’s Penny Sharpe said it was time for the government to produce all the documents that they’ve been ordered to.
“They have to be prepared to answer questions in relation to those documents,” she said.
“The inquiry is continuing but at this point we are being obstructed by the government’s failure to provide the information we need to get to the bottom of this on behalf of the people of NSW.”
Comment has also been sought from Mr Ayres.
By Andrea Hayward in Sydney
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