John Barilaro

MORNING BRIEFING: The state opposition says there is "something rotten" in the New South Wales government after explosive evidence was given at an inquiry ...

"If telcos fail to comply with directions to comply that we issue to them for the new code, telcos can face penalties of up to $250,000." Penny Sharpe, leader of the opposition in the legislative council, said that what happened to Ms West was a "word of warning to the way the government operates". A transcript from the parliamentary hearing will now be referred to the state's corruption watchdog, according to the head of the committee, Cate Faehrmann. The state's Shadow Treasurer, Daniel Mookhey, said the public was entitled to think there is "something rotten" in the New South Wales government. Yesterday, Ms West told the inquiry she was told by the chief executive, Amy Brown, that the job was now going to be a "present for someone" else. New South Wales Labor has called for a senior public servant to step down after bombshell revelations at an inquiry into the recruitment of the NSW trade commissioner in the United States.

The woman first offered the New York trade commissioner job that eventually went to former New South Wales deputy premier John Barilaro has told a parliamentary ...

“I was so excited about the appointment,” she told the inquiry. In confidential evidence leaked to media, Brown also raised discrepancies in West’s resume. “I immediately shared the news with my family and friends, they were so happy for me. I couldn’t get my head around that.” West told the inquiry she had a meeting with Brown on 14 October in which she was told she would not be getting the job. West presented her notes from the conversation to the inquiry that stated Brown told her that it was the “DP” – Barilaro – who had taken the submission to cabinet.

The New South Wales government should have known better than to offer the trade job to the former deputy premier of New South Wales, John Barilaro when ...

If Premier Dominic Perrottet was hoping that former deputy premier John Barilaro's decision to relinquish his lucrative New York trade job would end the ...

To make matters worse, a committee member had earlier leaked the transcript of in-camera evidence given by Brown at a hearing last week. The next she heard from him was in a letter confirming her redundancy. She attempted to raise the issue with the state’s most senior public servant Michael Coutts-Trotter. He never responded to her request for a 15-minute meeting where she hoped she could outline her concerns. In Barilaro’s last cabinet meeting before he quit the ministry after Berejiklian’s shock resignation, it was decided that the trade commissioner roles should be political appointments. Days later, Berejiklian and Barilaro were gone, Perrottet was premier and the newly appointed trade minister Ayres soon set about changing the cabinet decision. Nonetheless, Perrottet maintains that was the advice he was given.

Jenny West, the woman first offered the trade commissioner job controversially given to John Barilaro, has shared some bombshell revelations.

There had never been any comments or complaints about her performance in that role. “She added, and I again quote, ‘you are an extraordinary performer, and I am upset that this has happened’.'” “Ms Brown said that the position, and this is a quote, ‘will be a present for someone’,” West told a parliamentary inquiry on Monday.

The NSW corruption watchdog has been asked to look at a document related to the controversial appointment of John Barilaro as New York trade envoy. It comes after revelations the lucrative trade job was taken away from a female executive to be given as ...

They also included the briefing note signed by Ms Berejiklian that identified Ms West as the “successful candidate”. The documents also showed that Ms West had begun preparing for the move to New York by looking at housing and school options for her child. Ms West claimed she was told by her boss, Investment NSW chief executive Amy Brown, that the New York job would be “a present for someone”.

Evidence from the parliamentary inquiry into the process that saw former deputy premier John Barilaro given a plum trade job will be referred to NSW's ...

"Amy Brown is and was the decision maker for this role. "In the space of four weeks, I went from being appointed to the role of the senior trade and investment commissioner for the Americas to potentially not having a job," she said. As the fallout from the appointment continues, Committee Chair and Greens MLC Cate Faehrmann said the transcript from Monday's hearing would be sent to the corruption watchdog after the inquiry was told the US job would be a "present for someone".

If NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet doesn't show some leadership on the John Barilaro scandal, his government will be consumed by it.

NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet has smacked down suggestions he misled parliament over a plum $500000 overseas job for his former deputy.

She told the committee on Monday she believed the initials “DP” in the note referred to Mr Barilaro, the then-deputy premier. They also included the briefing note signed by Ms Berejiklian that identified Ms West as the “successful candidate”. “She went on to inform me that the DP had put up a separate submission to Cabinet to get the authority for decision making in regards to these roles to go direct to himself, not INSW.” Ms West claimed she was told by her boss, Investment NSW chief executive Amy Brown, that the New York job would be “a present for someone”. “The statement I made in the parliament is based on the advice, obviously, from the department,” Mr Perrottet told reporters on Tuesday. Mr Perrottet told parliament on June 22 that the first recruitment process for the New York gig “did not identify a suitable candidate”.

Rate rises cause consumer, business confidence to dip, three of the big four banks said; NSW ICAC to review Jenny West's testimony from John Barilaro ...

The crisis has been driven by a wave of outages at coal-fired power stations in the National Electricity Market, high international prices for coal and gas exacerbated by the war in Ukraine, and heightened demand for energy amid cold winter weather just when the contribution of solar power is at its weakest. “We are working with business and community leaders to ensure advice and information is provided to the wider community to help all Victorians stay well this winter,” she said. It said the decision to prosecute had been made in accordance with its guidelines requiring the agency consider whether it was in the public interest, and whether there was enough evidence to support a reasonable prospect of conviction. “The world has never witnessed such a major energy crisis in terms of its depth and its complexity,” Birol told the federal government-organised Sydney Energy Forum on Tuesday. “I believe we might not have seen the worst of it yet.” The global energy crisis has not yet reached its peak and is likely to worsen as the northern hemisphere winter approaches, the head of the International Energy Agency has warned, while voicing confidence that clean energy will help resolve the crunch. He said global supply chains need to be diversified in renewables, particularly to reduce the dominance of China in several parts of the manufacturing process for solar panels. “Ms Brown said that the position - and this is a quote - ‘will be a present for someone’,” West said. She’s charged with recklessly placing, without lawful excuse, another person in danger of serious injury, and failing to take reasonable care for the health and safety of people in the workplace. The PwC case was part of a push by the ATO to force more transparency in the big four’s work for multinationals, after a slew of cases in which the firms had used increasingly novel interpretations of legal privilege to withhold tax and auditing information from regulators and shareholders. Testimony related to the controversial appointment of former NSW deputy premier John Barilaro to a lucrative trade job in New York has been sent to the state’s corruption watchdog. She was told in October by Investment NSW CEO Amy Brown that she no longer had the position, which was given to Mr Barilaro in June 2022. It also follows a long legal battle between the regulator and global accounting giant PwC that failed to resolve the issue, after the Federal Court ruled in March that the firm had incorrectly claimed privilege over 58 per cent of documents the ATO requested from its work for meat producer JBS, but that such claims must be decided case by case.

Two staffers of former NSW deputy premier John Barilaro have been asked to give evidence at an inquiry into how he was appointed to a trade role in the US.

“I did not say the job was to be a ‘present’ for anyone and I find that idea to be offensive,” he said. “I will make that public and I will immediately respond to any of the recommendations,” he said. “Ms Brown said that the position – and this is a quote – ‘will be a present for someone’,” Ms West said. Ms West told the inquiry she felt “so confused” and “shocked” when Ms Brown told her she no longer had the New York job and would also be made redundant from her position. “The committee was particularly concerned at Ms West’s evidence that the role was being given as a ‘present’ to someone else,” Ms Faehrmann said in a statement. “It is clear that this has not been the case in this situation.”