Premier Dominic Perrottet and Trade Minister Stuart Ayres were accused of a “cover-up” by 2GB host Ben Fordham after documents emerged that contradicted statements the pair gave to parliament. “The NSW government is doing its best right now to cover up a controversy that’s too big to ignore,” Fordham claimed.“They’re having their pants pulled down over this saga.”Both Mr Perrottet and Mr Ayres told parliament on June 22 that there had been “no suitable candidate” out of the first round of recruitment for the senior trade and investment commissioner role in New York. The government has claimed that’s the reason a new recruitment round was undertaken, the one where John Barilaro came out on top. “That’s absolute and utter garbage,” Fordham said. This week documents released to the parliament showed both Mr Perrottet and Mr Ayres had received briefing notes last year that said there had been a successful candidate out of the first round. Mr Perrottet’s office “noted” the information, while Mr Ayres put his signature at the bottom of the document.The woman who was the successful candidate, former Investment NSW deputy secretary Jenny West, said she received a similar briefing that was signed by then premier Gladys Berejiklian when she was told she got the job.She was also sent a congratulatory text message by her boss before beginning to look into accommodation in New York and getting her affairs in order for the move. But just weeks later she claimed she was told the job offer had been revoked and it would be a “present” for someone else. “Stuart Ayres has got some serious questions to answer,” Fordham said on Wednesday. “He signed the briefing note that states a successful candidate had been found … ‘The successful candidate is Jenny West’ – that‘s what he signed.“Then he told parliament there was no suitable candidate identified. Those two statements just do not match. One’s black and one is white. Both of them cannot be correct.”Mr Ayres was also slammed for the response he gave to media outlets after the briefing note was revealed on Tuesday. Mr Ayres downplayed the brief’s significance, saying it “notes information provided by Investment NSW” and adding “it is not a brief which seeks a decision from me”.“I would also like to make clear that this brief does not represent the end of the recruitment process. That could only be determined by the CEO of Investment NSW, as this is a public service appointment,” Mr Ayres said.“This is consistent with testimony provided by the Investment NSW CEO and General Counsel to the Public Accountability Committee and the information I provided to the (parliament) during question time.”Fordham said that statement wasn’t credible and Mr Ayres should just “own it”.“Minister please, you are full of it. And you’re not fooling anyone,” Fordham said.“And if you don’t own up, you’ll take others down with you.”
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