A NSW parliamentary investigation into John Barilaro’s appointment to a US trade post has heard how a former trade executive, Jenny West, was never “fully” offered the role before it wasFormer Investment NSW general counsel Chris Carr defended the agency’s handling of the recruitment process and maintained Ms West was treated with care and procedural fairness when the role was rescinded. He denied he had told her he was “horrified” with the way she was treated.
Former Investment NSW general counsel Chris Carr: “This was not a conversation where I was called to give advice.
But he has emerged as a central figure in the investigation after Ms West claimed in an earlier hearing that he had told her he was “horrified” at how the process was handled.On Tuesday, Mr Carr denied ever using those words, arguing that it was probably Ms West’s “interpretation” of what he said as he tried to empathise with the former executive on a “human level”.
“Any comments she was making, any of my responses, would have been taken with a grain of salt because it was in an environment where we had a person that was disappointed.Mr Carr is now general counsel of the Department of Enterprise, Investment and Trade.He also told the committee how Ms West had never received a formal job offer for the US trade position given that there were a series of tax issues for the role that were never finalised.