John Barilaro has insisted to the NSW parliamentary inquiry into his appointment to a New York trade post that he was unaware his former deputy secretary Jenny West had been successful in applying for the job he was later handed — despite signing a brief endorsing her as successful.
Barilaro says he pressed ahead with his plan to change the process for appointing trade commissioners to political appointments, unaware that West — of whom Barilaro said he was a “big fan” — had been chosen by a recruitment panel and been offered the job by secretary Amy Brown. However, his signature appears on a brief endorsing her selection as the successful candidate. Barilaro says it was his electronic signature on the document and his staff had used it, and that he is unable to recall when he instructed his staff to add his signature to the brief.
The former deputy premier also said that there was no agenda about changing the status of the trade commission appointments except to attract better candidates for the roles, and he attached no urgency to the development of a cabinet submission despite asking for it to be done “ASAP”. “Everything is ASAP,” he said. Barilaro told the inquiry he had been intending to leave politics from June 2021 onwards, having never properly recovered from a breakdown in 2020.
Barilaro’s interest in a lucrative posting to New York was well known within the Perrottet government even before Barilaro left Parliament, he revealed, with Barilaro informing both NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet and Treasurer Matt Kean of his interest in the role, as well as former minister Stuart Ayres, prior to resigning from Parliament in December. No one at any stage expressed concern about the political ramifications of his successful application for the job.
Barilaro says he should have used his own political nous to realise he should not have applied for the job, and that he now regretted ever doing so given it had turned into a “shitshow” and he had been through “hell” in recent weeks.
What do you think of Barilaro’s inquiry performance? Let us know by writing to letters@crikey.com.au. Please include your full name to be considered for publication. We reserve the right to edit for length and clarity.
“Barilaro says it his electronic signature on the document and his staff had used it, and that he is unable to recall when he instructed his staff to add his signature to the brief.”
Really? Is such use of an ‘electronic signature’ on formal documents permitted, and is it acceptable? Surely, if a minister wants to delegate the signing of documents, the signature must be that of the official with the delegated power, adding the well-understood “pp” (per procurationem) to show what is being done? Otherwise, as we apparently see here (if we believe what Barilaro has said, which is a big ask), finding a signature on a document no longer means anything.
It is also fascinating to see Barilaro thinks that signing documents himself is too much like hard work. How much is he paid? And yet he cannot lift a pen.
“… he attached no urgency to the development of a cabinet submission despite asking for it to be done “ASAP”. “Everything is ASAP,” he said.”
If it’s true that everything is ASAP he would not add ASAP because it makes no difference when it is all ASAP. Barilaro is lying. Again.
“Barilaro told the inquiry he had been intending to leave politics from June 2021 onwards, having never properly recovered from a breakdown in 2020.”
Barilaro says he is too fragile to carry on in politics, where he cannot even be bothered to lift a pen, but he is robust enough to do whatever is involved in running the New York trade mission. Really? Sounds like he expects the NY gig might not be very demanding, doesn’t it? More evidence it is just an extended luxury holiday, a big fat sinecure, and not real job.
To be fair, who wouldn’t want to get paid $500,000 a year to live in New York? I’d take that job in a heartbeat! Hell, I’d do it for half that.
Raise you -$50k
Poor pork Barilaro, going through ‘hell’.
I wonder how that experience compared to that of the folks belonging to the social club he infiltrated in order to drive it into the ground and snaffle the real estate.
that his dad ran!
More please- I’m assuming this was in Queanbeyan??
Do a search on Michael West’s website for the full (and grubby) story. I posted a link but I don’t think the mods are going to let it through.
“No one at any stage expressed concern about the political ramifications of his successful application for the job.”
Ofcourse not, because it’s starting to look like those roles were created with the purpose of gifting them to mates and likely it’s been a thing you do all the time and no one ever complained about it.
I think it has been going on federally for years
Barilaro is this country’s greatest self described political victim I can recall.
Pauline Hanson would give him a run for his money.
“All About Barrels”.
“… never properly recovered from a breakdown in 2020…. ” = good enough to be trade commissioner to the US for a Perrottet government? ….. “R&R in New York”?
“….should have used his own political nous to realise he should not have applied for the job,..” but he did use it, he did apply for it.
Or is he saying he did it at the urging of someone else?
Watching him I see “Bob Mortimer Does Politics”. He’s all over the place, in some dog’s breakfast ‘ad lib comedy sketch’.
“Screw aptitude…. This is a job for our John!”
Where was “St Matthew the Klean” while all this was going on?
Didn’t have the political nous to abandon the plan before it went full sh#$&@ow, either!
Watched chunks of this and was stunned by the self-regard. The need for top calibre candidates= people like me.
From “The Book of Barilaro :- Instant gravitas – Get elected to parliament!”????