John Barilaro’s former chief of staff tried to stop him resigning from politics before he controversially took up a controversial trade role that has plunged the state government into crisis.
Siobhan Hamblin appeared before a parliamentary committee inquiry into the appointment on Friday, two days after the scandal over the US trade job claimed the scalp of former trade minister Stuart Ayres.
Ms Hamblin told the hearing the former deputy premier never expressed an interest in the role to her.
She tried to discourage him from resigning his positions as trade minister and deputy premier in October having been made aware of his intention for several months in comments ranging from “flippant” to “somewhat serious”.
“My advice to Mr Barilaro on that day was that any plans (he) may have to leave politics should be shelved for the sake of stable government and for the people of NSW as we were still in the grips of a lockdown,” Ms Hamblin said.
She said she had an oversight role in preparing ministerial briefings by staffers, but she did not necessarily see everything that went to Mr Barilaro.
Ms Hamblin said she was pre-occupied with the COVID-19 pandemic and could not recall discussions about a cabinet submission in September last year to change the roles of several new trade commissioners to ministerial rather than public service appointments.
While another of Mr Barilaro’s staffers described the submission as an urgent request, Ms Hamblin said she couldn’t recall the reason for the urgency.
“I don’t recall the nature of it and, given that I can’t recall that, I suspect that whatever the answer was didn’t raise with me any particular red flags,” she said.
“To see a cabinet submission come up in any form that is of some form of urgency, while not usual practice, it’s not uncommon.”
Labor committee member Daniel Mookhey suggested one reason for the urgency might be because Mr Barilaro had already started considering his resignation at that time.
“That’s a question for Mr Barilaro,” Ms Hamblin said.
The former deputy premier’s much-anticipated appearance at the inquiry is scheduled for next Monday and is likely to be followed by further evidence from Investment NSW chief executive Amy Brown.
Investment NSW managing director Kylie Bell and Public Sector Commissioner Kathrina Lo are also due to give evidence on Friday.
Ms Brown appeared before the inquiry on Wednesday, shortly after Premier Dominic Perrottet announced Mr Ayres’ resignation following a draft review raised questions about whether he breached the ministerial code of conduct.
She agreed Mr Ayres was not at arm’s length during the recruitment process and said she was nervous about Mr Barilaro’s appointment because of its potential for controversy.
Labor has pledged to abolish all senior trade and investment commissioner roles if it wins the March state election.
Opposition trade spokesman Anoulack Chanthivong said the roles had been “mired in scandal” and a suitable replacement program would be developed.
