John Barilaro

Mark Connell made a written submission to the parliamentary inquiry which is examining the appointment of B...

"I believe my appointment will continue to be a distraction and not allow this important role to achieve what it was designed to do, and thus my decision," Barilaro said. Connell claimed Barilaro said: "I don't want to go to London, f--- that, I'm off to New York.'" "After this meeting, Mr Barilaro came directly to my office," Connell wrote in the statement.

The former chief of staff to former NSW deputy premier John Barilaro has provided explosive written evidence to parliament claiming his ex-boss told him in ...

If Mr Barilaro wants to come before the committee he is more than welcome to.” Connell served as Barilaro’s chief of staff from April 2017 to December 2019. He previously worked for former NSW premier John Fahey, and returned as an adviser on energy policy in Treasurer Matt Kean’s office after leaving Barilaro’s office. “After this meeting, Mr Barilaro came directly to my office. “I reject in the strongest possible terms any suggesting or inference that the recruitment for the [state trade and investment commissioner] Americas role was orchestrated to deliver the role to Mr Barilaro,” he said, adding that the suggestion was “incredibly offensive”. “He then stated, ‘This is it; this is the job for when I get the f--- out of this place’. I responded to Mr Barilaro and stated, ‘but John, the Agent General role will be filled well before you retire from this place’.”

Premier Dominic Perrottet said numerous discussions took place about the establishment of NSW trade commissioner jobs in 2019. “At no point in any of those ...

“If true then this position was created for a friend, that the selection process was rigged and that there’s been a month-long cover up to prevent the people of NSW getting access to the real information,” Mr Minns told reporters. Mr Barilaro said Mr Connell’s claim served as a reminder to why the pair parted ways. Mark Connell, who worked for Mr Barilaro from April 2017 until December 2019, has submitted a statement to the parliamentary inquiry into his controversial appointment as trade commissioner to the Americas.

John Barilaro's ex-chief of staff says the former NSW deputy premier told him three years ago he was lining up a lucrative trade job in New York.

"The conversation he has recalled is fictitious, false," Mr Barilaro said in a statement. "At no point in any of those discussions was it ever raised that the former deputy premier may want to hold a position as a trade commissioner," Mr Perrottet said in a statement on Wednesday. "This is the job for when I get the f*** out of this place," the former staffer quoted Mr Barilaro in a statement tabled in NSW parliament on Wednesday.

John Barilaro's former chief of staff has claimed the former deputy premier said: 'I don't want to go to London, f--- that, I'm off to New York.'

Ms West also claimed that she was told by Investment NSW chief executive Amy Brown that the role would be a “present” for someone. The NSW Opposition has seized on the debacle and claims of jobs for mates to heap more pressure on NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet, who was mentioned in Mr Connell’s statement and has repeatedly said that he was kept at arm’s length from the trade position recruitment process. “The conversation he has recalled is fictitious, false and only serves as a reminder as to why we had to part ways,” Mr Barilaro said in a statement released soon after Mr Connell’s submission was made public. He also claimed Mr Barilaro allegedly responded that he wanted to go to New York, and when Mr Connell explained that the NSW trade office was currently located in San Francisco rather than New York, he responded: John Barilaro has asked to front a NSW parliamentary committee after his former chief of staff sensationally alleged the former MP had created a prestigious US trade role for himself and referred to it as “the job for when I get the f--- out of this place”. As an inquiry into Mr Barilaro’s appointment to the plum US trade post continues to hang over the Perrottet government, his former chief of staff, Mark Connell, claimed Mr Barilaro told him in April 2019 that he wanted to open a trade office in New York because “that’s where I’m off to”.

Chris Carr disputes parts of evidence of Jenny West, who says she was offered the role, NSW parliamentary inquiry hears.

Previously revealed documents show it was Carr who provided advice about making the appointments via a ministerial decree. His evidence appeared to contradict what Brown previously told the inquiry. Carr’s evidence – that he was asked to begin work on that advice in early September at the request of Brown, or her chief of staff – contradicted Brown’s previous evidence that he was asked directly by Barilaro’s staff. Carr told the hearing that he only began drafting detailed advice on the logistics of making the appointments via a ministerial decree after cabinet had already decided to push ahead with the move. The inquiry has previously heard that Barilaro took a submission to cabinet to have the appointments made by ministers shortly before he resigned from parliament. On Tuesday Chris Carr, the general counsel for Investment NSW when Barilaro was handed the role, told the inquiry that it was the chief executive of the agency Amy Brown, or her chief of staff, who first asked him to provide advice on the positions in September of last year.

Mark Connell claims after a meeting with then-treasurer Dominic Perrottet and Stuart Ayres, where the creation of overseas postings was discussed, Mr Barilaro ...

A staffer for the former NSW deputy premier has told an inquiry into Barilaro's appointment to a plum post about a key conversation - but the claim has been ...

In his statement to the inquiry Connell said it was mutually agreed he would stop working for Barilaro in December 2019, when his boss stopped taking his advice and sought outside counsel. “The conversation he has recalled is fictitious, false,” Barilaro said in a statement. “At no point in any of those discussions was it ever raised that the former deputy premier may want to hold a position as a trade commissioner,” Perrottet said in a statement on Wednesday.

In sensational evidence to a parliamentary inquiry, Mark Connell recalled that Mr Barilaro had just come from a meeting with then-Treasurer Dominic Perrottet ...

Mr Barilaro had been appointed the NSW Minister for Trade, approximately one month earlier, and attended this meeting. After this meeting, Mr Barilaro came directly to my office. I refer to an incident which occurred in April 2019. My conversation with Ms. Sharpe has been limited to this specific matter. 'I felt the need to console her... The overseas role eventually went to Mr Barilaro, who withdrew after public outcry in June. 'I did receive some questions subsequent to that from a junior officer in Mr Barilaro's office. He then stated, 'This is it; this is the job for when I get the fuck out of this place'. I responded to Mr Barilaro and stated, 'but John, the Agent General role will be filled well before you retire from this place'. My employment ceased in December 2019. 'That was her interpretation. Ms West told the hearing she had spoken to Mr Carr after learning she would not be sent to New York for the job and took a note of their conversation at the time. Mr Connell said he only learnt of his appointment to the trade job when it was reported by the media and said it had triggered a memory of the conversation.

A former staff member of John Barilaro tells an inquiry into the former NSW deputy premier's appointment as a trade commissioner to the US that he has never ...

"I recall having a conversation with the (Mr Barilaro) and he said to me that he would talk to the other ministers," he said. Mr Barilaro then went to cabinet in September with a submission to change the process, which was successful. Mr Brayford also told the inquiry that Mr Barilaro wanted the submission done "ASAP". Mr Brayford then told the inquiry he received instruction from Mr Barilaro in September, before he went to cabinet seeking to make the change. "I was given a direction by government to cease the recruitment due to a change in government policy to convert the roles into statutory officers appointed by a minister," she told the inquiry last month. Another former staffer of John Barilaro has given evidence to the parliamentary inquiry into the former deputy premier's appointment to a plum New York job.

Joseph Brayford tells inquiry former NSW deputy premier wanted to turn trade roles into ministerial appointments 'ASAP'

“You know, he is an interesting character … I don’t really mean anything. The process, the committee heard, was unusually fast. It reveals that just weeks before Barilaro quit parliament he instructed staff to prepare a submission for cabinet to allow ministers to appoint the trade commissioners, instead of the public service.

Nationals MP Wes Fang is now urging the other members of the inquiry committee to allow Mr Barilaro to give evidence under oath. In emails obtained by 2GB, Mr ...

“Given Mr Barilaro has publicly expressed his wish to be cross-examined… I’m off to New York” Mr Barilaro is demanding the opportunity to defend himself following several weeks of extraordinary allegations.