Former deputy premier John Barilaro helped his staff member-turned-girlfriend secure a job at Investment NSW, according to fiery testimony in which he also denied making decisions about his political future when he sought to give ministerial colleagues the power to appoint trade commissioners.
Barilaro split from his wife of 26 years, Deanna, late last year. He is now in a relationship with Lugsdin, who worked in his office between August 2019 and August last year.Labor grilled the former Nationals leader about the timing of his relationship with Lugsdin and the knowledge she had of the New York role to establish whether Barilaro had advance warning about its advertisement.
Barilaro insisted he was successful in securing the role through merit but conceded parts of the process have since proven to be problematic. Barilaro confirmed he had contact with Premier Dominic Perrottet, then-trade minister Stuart Ayres and Treasurer Matt Kean before he applied for the lucrative New York role, but that no concerns were ever raised.
The inquiry heard Barilaro lodged the cabinet submission on September 16, less than a week after giving private evidence to the anti-corruption commission about then-premier Gladys Berejiklian.