CLANCY OVERELL | Editor | CONTACT
The entire floor of the New South Wales Parliament is currently buried underneath 80,000 litres of highly flammable kerosene stockpiled in plastic 40 gallon drums, as state government MPs duck for cover from what is inevitably about to go down.
This comes as former NSW deputy premier John Barilaro appears for the first time in front of a Parliamentary inquiry into his suspicious appointment to senior trade and investment commissioner (STIC) to North America, a role that he has since withdrawn from due to the media scrutiny.
It is not known why there is currently 80,000 litres of kerosene sitting in the middle of NSW Parliament, although, many hope that this inquiry might be able to figure out why. However, there are also grave fears amongst current MPs that John Barilaro might expose this stockpile of explosive chemicals to a naked flame if he goes off script.
In his opening statement, Barilaro was clear to say he refutes any suggestion of any wrongdoing in his appointment, saying the past few weeks have been a “personal hell, unfair and unjust”.
Barilaro added that since the announcement of his appointment was made, he felt his privacy has been invaded and his credentials publicly derided, all because of the fact that he took a cushy $500,000 per year job that he invented, only after it had been given and then taken off someone else – who appeared to be far more qualified than he is.
However, the former thorn in Berejeklian’s side has also revealed that he formed an interest in the role last last year, after he resigned as deputy premier and minister for trade suddenly, for no reason at all, right around the time the Premier resigned, and was replaced by Dominic Perrottet, who is pay very good odds to suddenly resign over the next few weeks as well.
When Investment NSW was first set up back in March 2021, it was the responsibility of both Barilaro and Berejiklian, as well as the now former minister Stuart Ayres who ALSO suddenly resigned last week over a potential breach of the ministerial code of conduct.
In other news, current and unresigned NSW premier Dominic Perrottet denied allegations he offered to create a trade role for NSW transport minister David Elliott on radio Monday morning.
Those allegations follow reports former NSW MPs Pru Goward and Jodi McKay were candidates for STIC in other regions, despite there already being preferred candidates for those roles as well.
Neither Goward or McKay were successful in being appointed as STICs, perhaps because they weren’t in a position to give themselves those roles.
