Stuart Ayres

John Barilaro's successful application for a job paying $500000 a year has been revealed, including one embarrassing detail.

“I was not involved in the recruitment process, I was not involved in the selection panel, I was not involved in the writing of any of those reports,” Mr Ayres said. “While he would have a learning curve on doing business in the US, he had a strong track record of building teams as well as operating in a dynamic environment and had deep understanding of the NSW Trade and Investment environment”. “While he has not lived internationally, he has successfully developed international businesses in both his roles in managing his own company in the private sector and in his capacity as Deputy Premier and Trade Minister for NSW,” the final report said. The report said Mr Barilaro had only “some of the relevant capabilities and experiences for the role”. The final report said Mr Barilaro “exceeded” three of four requirements. A draft recruitment panel report from March showed Mr Barilaro only “exceeded” expectations for two key job requirements, while he “met” two others.

Trade Minister Stuart Ayres says Mr Barilaro reached out to him asking about the process for recruitment for the trade commissioner's job in New York.

He said he and Mr Barilaro were not close friends and he described his actions as being driven by his desire to "put the people of NSW first". Mr Ayres has insisted the appointment of John Barilaro to the role was done "at arm's length" from the government. When asked whether he had texted a copy of the advertisement to any other candidate, Mr Ayres said he had not.

Stuart Ayres dismissed speculation he played a helping hand as his involvement in the recruitment process comes under scrutiny.

'I was not involved in the selection panel. Mr Ayres dismissed allegations he had a hand in appointing Mr Barilaro as the Senior Trade and Investment Commissioner to the Americas Mr Ayres made a lengthy Facebook post dismissing accusations he helped Mr Barilaro land the plum trade job in New York Mr Ayres dismissed allegations he had a hand in appointing Mr Barilaro as the Senior Trade and Investment Commissioner to the Americas. Embattled deputy Liberal leader Stuart Ayres has insisted he did not help John Barilaro land a $500,000 trade job in New York in a lengthy Facebook post Embattled deputy Liberal leader Stuart Ayres has insisted he did not help John Barilaro land a $500,000 trade job in New York in a lengthy

NSW deputy Liberal leader Stuart Ayres has defended his actions over the appointment of former deputy premier John Barilaro to a trade role in the US.

A nervous looking NSW Trade Minister Stuart Ayres was licking his lips throughout a press conference this morning as he was grilled on the Barilaro saga, ...

The fiasco over the appointment of former deputy premier John Barilaro to a $500000-a-year New York trade job has preoccupied NSW politics for long enough.

The Herald believes Dominic Perrottet has been a good premier but he has dithered in the face of this political crisis. Families across the state are feeling the effects of a sharp increase in inflation. Documents released on Monday showed Barilaro was not even the preferred candidate for the New York trade role and that a panel selection report was edited by a senior bureaucrat to enhance his assessment and list him as the first choice once he had already accepted the job. In the same post, he again claimed the first recruitment round did not find a “suitable candidate”. This is clearly false: senior public servant Jenny West was offered the job and Ayres even signed off on a ministerial briefing noting West as the successful applicant. In a social media post over the weekend Ayres argued “politics” was somehow to blame for his predicament, including Labor’s ambition to win his seat of Penrith. This is delusional. Instead, he encouraged Barilaro’s application by passing on the advertisement.

Cabinet colleagues are refusing to back Trade Minister Stuart Ayres over his role in the appointment of John Barilaro to a plum New York trade posting.

He said it was “nonsense” for Ayres to deny involvement in the selection process. Cabinet ministers have different views ... but ultimately, I’m the person here in the position elected to make the right calls.” “This is about the public having confidence in ministers that are undertaking their roles. I expect them to act with honesty and integrity,” he said. Barilaro declined to comment. “There will always be different views.

Trade Minister Stuart Ayres has admitted he would have done one thing differently in the New York Trade Commissioner saga. The NSW Premier is standing by Mr ...

NSW trade minister Stuart Ayes says he should have advised former deputy premier John Barilaro not to apply for a plum US trade role.

He denied that he had misled parliament in June when he said the first recruitment round for the US trade envoy job had failed to identify a successful candidate, despite him signing a briefing note saying senior public servant Jenny West had been selected. The release of a trove of government documents to a parliamentary committee probing the controversial appointment has raised serious questions over the recruitment process. Under-fire NSW trade minister Stuart Ayres says he should have told his former colleague John Barilaro not to apply for a US job that has engulfed the government in crisis.

New South Wales Trade Minister Stuart Ayres concedes he should have told former deputy premier John Barilaro not to apply for an overseas trade role.

Leaked emails last week revealed Mr Ayres put forward a name to be added to a shortlist of candidates for the role, but he maintains that name was not John Barilaro's. Mr Ayres has confirmed he texted a copy of the job advertisement to Mr Barilaro when it was first advertised after Mr Barilaro expressed an interest in the role. "I am confident that all of my actions have been in the best interests of the public and I think that's what that review will show," Mr Ayres said.

It's unclear exactly what standards Dominic Perrottet is applying when it comes to misconduct by his ministers. Either way he looks weak.

By sitting and doing nothing, Perrottet reinforces not merely the daily political damage to his government, he also confirms the growing impression of his lack of authority and leadership. It’s unfair to say that Dominic Perrottet is using the standards of the Morrison ministry in deciding if a minister should be sacked. Ayres, of course, is very powerful factionally within the NSW Liberal moderate grouping.