NSW Deputy Premier Paul Toole questioned whether his predecessor, former Member for Monaro, John Barilaro, was the best candidate for a cushy taxpayer-funded role in New York City.
Mr Toole told reporters on Monday he asked if Mr Barilaro was the “best person” for the $500,000 a year trade role.
“I did ask the question. ‘Was he the best person that came out of the interview process?,” he said.
“And it was indicated to me that he came out on top for that process.”
During Question Time last Wednesday, Investment Minister Stuart Ayres said he called Premier Dominic Perrottet and Mr Toole on April 30 to tell them Mr Barilaro had been recommended for the position of the state’s Senior Trade and Investment Commissioner to the Americas.
The role was created by Mr Barilaro when he was the NSW Trade Minister.
“I was informed after the process had concluded,” Mr Toole said.
Dual inquiries into the appointment are set to get underway.
“I know that there have been some questions in relation to the process and that’s why I welcome the review that has been undertaken now by the premier,” Mr Toole added.
“The public has a right to know, the public deserves to know and this is exactly what will come out of the review.”
A Labor motion passed in the upper house last week blocking Mr Barilaro from taking up the job until the upper house and internal government inquiries conclude.
“All of the assurances that the government has given the people of the state, the media, have proven to be false or misleading,” Labor Leader Chris Minns said on Monday
“I call on Mr Perrottet to do what 99 per cent of taxpayers of this state would be asking of him … draw a line in the sand, suspend the appointment of Mr Barilaro.”
The premier has said he would run his own internal inquiry into the appointment, to be headed up by Department of Premier and Cabinet (DPC) Michael Coutts-Trotter and teh report would be made public.
By Saturday, the DPC announced management consultant and former public service commissioner Graeme Head would take over the inquiry.
“To ensure the utmost independence and public confidence in the process, Mr Coutts-Trotter has decided to appoint an independent expert to assist the department with this inquiry,” the department said in a statement.
It comes as the department says Mr Coutts-Trotter was sent an email from former Investment NSW deputy secretary Jenny West, who was offered the New York role before having the offer rescinded.
Ms West sent the email on October 11, just one week after Mr Barilaro announced his resignation from politics.
She had asked to meet and discuss having the role removed from her.
The DPC Secretary said the email was “not a formal complaint” and referred it to Ms West’s employer, the CEO of Investment NSW.”
Mr Ayres said Amy Brown, the former secretary of the premier’s department and now the CEO of Investment NSW, had been the decision-maker who appointed Mr Barilaro.
The upper house’s own inquiry into the role will begin on Wednesday.
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