Thursday 30 June 2022 08:57 AM John Barilaro withdraws from the cushy $500k-a-year New York job after backlash trends now
John Barilaro has stepped down from a corporate gig in New York after his new position became 'untenable' amid intense scrutiny.
The former NSW deputy premier was confirmed as the NSW Trade Commissioner to Americas a fortnight ago and has copped massive backlash since.
Investment NSW CEO and trade secretary Amy Brown told a parliamentary inquiry on Wednesday that she revoked a verbal job offer for the coveted $500,000-a-year New York-based post promoting NSW in New York in September last year.
The three-year contract was then offered to then-deputy secretary Jenny West, before Mr Barilaro, Ms Brown's boss at the time, changed the recruitment requirements.
It's understood Mr Barilaro has since withdrawn from the role, telling Investment NSW his position has become untenable and a distraction for the state government.
NSW trade secretary Amy Brown (above) said she models her management style after Jesus's leadership after she retracted a dream New York job offer for her colleague Jenny West
The job was later offered to Mr Barilaro, with the former deputy premier due to start the coveted role in just two weeks, despite widespread outrage at his appointment.
Ms Brown, who was thrown into the spotlight this month over her role in the controversial New York job, gave an extensive interview in February about how her faith inspires her management of 6000 employees.
'What would Jesus do if he were me in these life circumstances, in this job, with this issue before me and serving the people that I lead?,' Ms Brown told Eternity News, an online Christian magazine.
'He showed up for the people when they needed him and he really put every person at the centre.'
A parliamentary inquiry (above) sat for the first time on Wednesday to investigate the retraction of Ms West's job offer and the new candidate's selection, John Barilaro
Ms Brown said God offered her a sense of relief in her 'exhausting' job because her actions are part of his 'plan'.
'It started to dawn on me how exhausting it is to have to live that way, where every single outcome depends on you,' she said.
'If you don't perform to the highest standard at that meeting or if you're not in the right place at the right time... that is a really exhausting way to live.
'Having kids gives you that perspective and you don't have time to be able to be everywhere and do everything and so you have to let go and let God.'
Ms Brown said she tried to lead by thinking of 'the good of your people'.
'I think God really speaks through the leadership of Christians in that servant leadership mentality,' Ms Brown told Eternity News.
'You put the good of your people at the heart of the way you lead and what you do and the decisions you make.'
Jenny West (pictured), then the deputy secretary of Investment NSW, was told in August last year that she was selected for a $500,000 trade post job in New York
Ms West's dream job in New York City was taken from her - leaving her upset
Ms Brown joined the NSW public service's 'Club 600' in 2022 - with a pay rise seeing her collect $614,000 a year on the taxpayer to run the Department of Enterprise, Investment and Trade.
Ms Brown's revocation of Ms West's job and selection of Mr Barilaro is now the subject of a parliamentary inquest, which sat for the first time on Wednesday.
Ms Brown told the inquiry that Ms West had been 'extremely upset' when her dream job offer was revoked which led to an 'irreconcilable' relationship with Investment NSW.
Ms West is no longer working with government and was given an undisclosed payout after three years of public service.
Then-NSW trade minister John Barilaro (above) changed the job's recruitment process after Ms West had been offered the
