Newly released documents reveal that Cartwright,who became a candidate for the lucrative role at Pratt’s request,also lamented to then-trade minister Stuart Ayres in March this year that his accommodation and expense allocations for the posting were insufficient,insisting “something has to be done”.
Stephen Cartwright,the Agent-General in London,was unhappy with his accommodation and expenses.LinkedIn
The appointment of Cartwright has come under scrutiny after it emerged he belatedly applied for the role,and then expected an $800,000 salary. He ultimately negotiated a $600,000 package that included expenses – higher than any other trade commissioner.
Emails released under parliamentary order show the former head of lobby group Business NSW met with the Treasury boss on February 19 last year to talk about the job and detail his personal circumstances. He was announced as agent-general on October 1.
Other emails show Cartwright asked Pratt for a meeting as early as January 22 last year,writing to Pratt’s executive assistant to arrange a breakfast meeting after the pair had already engaged in a virtual call.
This was despite a preferred candidate,Paul Webster,having already been chosen and his salary negotiations being under way. Pratt was on the selection panel that recommended Webster for the role.
In a lengthy WhatsApp message to then-trade minister Stuart Ayres in March this year after his appointment,Cartwright said he would not be able to support his family on the entitlements he was receiving in the role.
Cartwright’s message,seen by theHerald,said that he could not afford to have his wife and children join him,insisting a suitable apartment and school fees cost more in London than his entire salary.
“All other AGs and Fed Govt execs have rent,car and school fees covered by their govt,” he wrote on March 23 before listing entitlements for comparable representatives from other Australian states.
“The WA Govt is paying 13,500 pounds per month rent – that’s more than my entire net salary!”
Cartwright suggested he would have to consider his future in the role if his requests for entitlements could not be met.
“I have had two offers for CEO roles back in Sydney but I would rather stay here and deliver for NSW. But I can’t live here for 3 years without an apartment that can accommodate my family (at least on school holidays as the school fees here are twice that of Knox),” he wrote.
“Happy to discuss over the phone if you would prefer but something has to be done.”
A parliamentary inquiry examining the trade roles,including the appointment of John Barilaro to a New York posting,last week heard Cartwright was a late entry candidate for the London position.
Marianne Broadbent,managing partner of NGS Global,which ran the recruitment for the trade roles,told the inquiry she was advised Cartwright would need to be considered for the role.
Pratt,along with former Liberal MP Warwick Smith and then-secretary of the Department of Premier and Cabinet Tim Reardon,made up the selection panel,favouring Webster in a draft report.
Broadbent said neither Pratt nor anyone else in government disclosed any conversations they had with Cartwright about the role,adding that he became a candidate following a discussion with then-deputy premier Barilaro.
“I don’t recall that ... I don’t recall that it was raised,” she told the inquiry last week.
The first screening interview Broadbent conducted with Cartwright took place one week after she received the initial request from Pratt.
Labor’s Daniel Mookhey said he believed the events leading up to Barilaro’s New York appointment “pales in comparison” to those relating to the recruitment of the agent-general in London.
“Labor doesn’t think these roles should exist ... we think that a $600,000 role in London is yet to provide any public benefit that we can see,” Mookhey said.
“At the same time we are running a budget deficit that is eye watering,we are forking out $128 million on this Global NSW strategy and I don’t know what it’s delivering the taxpayers of this state.”
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