by high-profile barrister Bruce McClintock,SC,found Ayres complied with the ministerial code of conduct,and came more than five weeks after he resigned amid concerns he overstepped as the responsible minister during Barilaro’s selection.
Former trade minister Stuart Ayres departs his property in Mulgoa on the day he resigned.Sam Mooy
“There is no basis for any conclusion that Mr Ayres breached[the code] by directing or requesting any person to act contrary to the law or any of the other matters referred to,” McClintock found.
Ayres was forced to resign from cabinet and as deputy Liberal leader last month after a review by former public service commissioner Graeme Head raised questions over his role in Barilaro’s appointment to New York,finding it was not conducted at arm’s length from government.
In a statement on Monday,Ayres said the review was “unequivocally clear” in finding he acted lawfully,adding that Premier Dominic Perrottet himself described it as an “emphatic exoneration”.
The legal advice,which Perrottet commissioned,creates a new political headache for the premier now faced with the dilemma of whether to reinstate the former minister to his cabinet.
From left:Amy Brown,John Barilaro,Stuart Ayres and NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet.Fairfax Media
Ministers are split over whether Ayres could or should come back to cabinet,where he previously enjoyed a super-portfolio mix of enterprise,investment and trade,tourism and sport and western Sydney.
If he did return before the March election,colleagues believe it is most likely he would resume overseeing the most junior of the portfolios,such as western Sydney.
Premier Dominic Perrottet is yet to comment on the McClintock review,but previously conceded Ayres did not conduct himself at arm’s length from the process,based on the Head review findings.
Last week,however,the premier suggested returning to his cabinet adding that there were “always opportunities to come back and serve in the NSW government in different ways”.
Ayres’ role in the appointment of Barilaro came under intense scrutiny amid the release of internal documents revealing he stayed close to the recruitment led by Department of Enterprise,Investment and Trade Secretary Amy Brown.
It was the second recruitment process for the role after an earlier round resulted in the job being offered to former bureaucrat Jenny West. That offer was later rescinded.
Head’s review also found Brown factored in Ayres’ preference,despite never being directed to do so,consulting him on applicant shortlists and arranging for him to meet one candidate.
Those findings triggered the McClintock inquiry to determine whether Ayres breached the ministerial code of conduct.
McClintock’s eight-page advice relied on the findings of the Head review as well as cabinet documents and transcripts from an ongoing parliamentary inquiry. McClintock also interviewed Ayres for the report on September 1.
“On Mr Head’s specific findings,Mr Ayres acted honestly and in what he considered to be the public interest and therefore there is no breach[of the code of conduct],” McClintock wrote.
He said some form of daily contact was expected between a minister and the secretary of his department.
McClintock referred to Head’s finding that the process lacked a “specific and transparent” method for the two to reasonably consult each other.
“This suggests to me that the failure,if it be such,was one of process not substance,” McClintock’s advice said.
The barrister also found no evidence that Ayres had a conflict of interest relating to Barilaro,beyond their “simultaneous membership of cabinet and parliament”.
“There does not appear to have been any other relationship or connection between two men. They were certainly not friends,” McClintock said.
Ayres has consistently denied any wrongdoing and maintained he was at arm’s length from the public service process. He has insisted Brown was the final decision-maker at all times.
”Mr McClintock also makes clear ... that the public service was independent of me and under no special duty or obligation to appoint Mr Barilaro,” Ayres said in his statement on Monday.
“As the premier described it to me after I was presented with a copy of the report,‘it is an emphatic exoneration’.”
Labor leader in the upper house Penny Sharpe said she did not believe the McClintock review would change public perceptions of the process.
“What we’ve seen is a ‘jobs for the boys’ culture and that continues”.
The fallout from the trade job saga has engulfed the Perrottet government since Barilaro was announced as the US trade commissioner in June. He has since withdrawn from the role,while a long-running upper house inquiry continues to examine his appointment and that of UK Agent-General Stephen Cartwright.
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