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Independent review into Barilaro NY appointment released

Anton NilssonNCA NewsWire
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Camera IconNot Supplied Credit: News Corp Australia

The NSW Premier has said the process by which a former top politician was appointed to a lucrative trade job was “incredibly disappointing” and “flawed” after a damning new report was released.

The report, commissioned by the Premier and written by former public service commissioner Graeme Head, threw into question whether ethics codes and proper processes were followed when ex-deputy premier John Barilaro was selected for the New York trade post.

It said a female public servant who was initially selected for the role would likely have gone to New York had Mr Barilaro not intervened to ask cabinet to change the selection process.

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Camera IconNSW Premier Dominic Perrottet said the process had been flawed and disappointing. Gaye Gerard / NCA Newswire Credit: News Corp Australia

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The report also punched holes in arguments previously used by the government to claim the public service-led process had been at “arm’s length” from politicians.

It found there was not one, but two suitable candidates identified in the first recruitment process for the job – despite both Premier Dominic Perrottet and ex-trade minister Stuart Ayres telling parliament no suitable candidate had been found prior to Mr Barilaro’s appointment.

The report indicated the chief executive of Investment NSW and the person responsible for the candidate hunt, Amy Brown, misled the ministers when she told them there had been no suitable candidate found.

However, Mr Head wrote he didn’t believe the misdirection had been done on purpose.

“Ms Brown clearly believed that by the time she was briefing former minister Ayres and the Premier, she had determined that there were no suitable candidates,” Mr Head wrote.

“While the evidence suggests that this may not have been an entirely reasonable belief, it was Ms Brown’s belief and, as such, I conclude that there was not an intention to mislead.”

The report, based on government documents and interviews with key figures involved in the process, criticised Ms Brown for several of the decisions she made during the recruitment drive.

BARILARO INQUIRY
Camera IconAmy Brown was responsible for the hiring process. Gaye Gerard / NCA Newswire Credit: News Corp Australia

It said she didn’t fully manage potential issues around conflicts of interest when she accepted a late application from Jenny West, a former Investment NSW bureaucrat, who may have had an insight into the recruitment process before she threw her own hat in the ring.

Ms West was told she would get the job shortly before Mr Barilaro, who in one of his final acts as minister, advocated for the power to appoint trade envoys to be put in the hands of his cabinet colleagues instead of bureaucrats.

Mr Barilaro, who quit the cabinet shortly afterwards, later applied for the role himself and was successful.

The other suitable candidate identified in the first process, a man who was placed in a talent pool, was treated in a “very disrespectful” manner and wasn’t considered in the second round despite his merits, the report said.

The report said the second recruitment process, the one where Mr Barilaro came out on top, was marred by some “odd” choices by Ms Brown.

Those included the decision to place a job ad in a single newspaper for a short time, right before Christmas 2021.

“Both the timing and duration of the advertised period for the second … recruitment process seem odd if the goal is to produce a deeper pool of candidates,” Mr Head wrote.

Singer Robinson in Sydney
Camera IconJohn Barilaro intervened to change the way trade envoys were chosen. Gaye Gerard / NCA Newswire Credit: News Corp Australia

He also said it was “highly irregular” for Mr Ayres to have been allowed to place a person on the candidate shortlist.

The report’s findings on Mr Ayres’ interventions in the process – which were contrary to his claims of having had nothing to do with it – caused him to resign from cabinet earlier this month.

Ms Brown was also criticised for not telling other recruitment panel members of Mr Ayres’ interventions, which included meeting with a candidate and providing an informal reference for another – Mr Barilaro.

Mr Perrottet said prior to the report’s release, the appointment process had been distressing to many of the people involved, and vowed to make a number of changes to ensure the debacle wasn’t repeated.

“What you’ll see in the review is, it just completely shows a number of errors,” he said.

“It shows fundamental errors in relation to the recruitment process, in relation to changes that were made at various points in time, that clearly don’t fall within what is a proper and robust recruitment process.”

One of the actions the government will consider is an 18-month cooling-off period where former ministers can’t be appointed to a job at an agency they oversaw.

“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,” Mr Perrottet said.

The report also recommended changing the Government Sector Employment Act “to make clear that a minister cannot direct a secretary in the exercise of their employment functions”, the Premier‘s office said.

It also recommended establishing a code of ethics and conduct for the public sector.

The Graeme report arrived about a month overdue and cost taxpayers more than $80,000.

An Investment NSW spokesperson said: “Investment NSW thanks Graeme Head for his report and will review his findings.

“Investment NSW takes the responsibilities of staff under the Code of Ethics and Conduct in relation to employment processes and the transparent and fair recruitment of staff under the GSE Act seriously.

“The organisation has already taken steps to ensure that its People and Culture team is fully integrated into all offshore recruitment processes, even when being managed by external talent firms.

“The report’s recommendations will be considered in further strengthening existing processes, particularly as they relate to recruitment of Senior Trade and Investment Commissioners.”

Originally published as Independent review into Barilaro NY appointment released

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