Ex-Deputy NSW Premier John Barilaro has gone on the defensive, saying there is absolutely no way he would have accepted a lucrative position as Trade Commissioner had he known his actions could have consequences.
In a tense day of the Parliamentary inquiry, Barilaro said he was the victim in the whole debacle. “Nobody made me aware that this could happen. Do you know how traumatic it has been for me to be caught out in all of this? If I knew a sitting Deputy Premier couldn’t create a job that they’re later selected for in a non-competitive, non-transparent hiring process, I would have never applied. But nobody thought to tell me that when I created the position last year,” he said.Mr Barilaro told the inquiry he flagged his interest in the role to Premier Dominic Perrottet over a text message which simply read “🇺🇸💲” to which Perrottet simply replied “🤫”.
Mr Barilaro’s application for the position also fell under scrutiny, with a leaked typo-riddled cover letter from the application reading, “My name is Joan [sic] Barilaro, please give me job as New York Trade Commishoner [sic] because I’m really good at trade”.
Mr Barilaro then proceeded to lose his cool after being asked to spell the word “Minister”, threatening to sue Google and Jordan Shanks, then punching a nearby cameraman.
By David from The ‘Berran
