‘This does not sit well’: public servant raises questions over John Barilaro funding request
John Barilaro #JohnBarilaro
A senior New South Wales public servant recorded his serious concerns about a $50,000 payment to an agricultural cooperative associated with Angus Taylor’s family, after he was told the payment had been directed by the NSW deputy premier, John Barilaro, and should be disguised as a contract payment.
The payment to Monaro Farming Systems (MFS) was made after January 2021 and was the latest in more than $800,000 in grants to the group made from state and federal coffers since 2015.
MFS is a farming research cooperative that was established by Richard Taylor, who is the brother of the federal energy minister, Angus Taylor, and the brother-in-law of the NSW Nationals MP Bronwyn Taylor. Until 2019 Richard was the chair of MFS.
Related: Grants to farming group associated with Angus Taylor’s brother to be reviewed
Bronnie Taylor is closely aligned with Barilaro in the NSW Nationals and served as his parliamentary secretary.
The Taylor family are major landholders in the Monaro and stand to benefit from the output of MFS, which conducts research on how to improve farming practices in the Monaro. There is no suggestion that any member of the Taylor family were involved in lobbying for, or aware of, the grant in question.
“I am concerned about the nature of this agreement,” the bureaucrat wrote after he was told to make it look like a contractual payment for services, rather than a grant.
“I am concerned about the ethics of this. Is it favouritism? Is it bribery? This does not sit well with me. Would I be complicit? I need to discuss.”
The note to file was written on 28 January after a 10-minute phone call with a colleague about the $50,000 payment and has emerged among papers called for by the NSW Upper House.
I am concerned about the ethics of this. Is it favouritism? Is it bribery?
Public servant on Barilaro’s request
The name of the concerned bureaucrat, who appears to be in the Department of Primary Industries, has been redacted.
“[Person A] told me information that was not included in the documents, which was as follows,” the concerned bureaucrat wrote.
“John Barilaro – visited Monaro Systems and promised money for extension services with their members. [The deputy director general] has to provide $50k. Monaro will provide an invoice for the $50K. Putting a contract in place gives the invoice legitimacy. DPI [Department of Primary Industries] have no control over what activity Monaro will do with the money.
“I said: ‘this seems more like a grant, but you are trying to avoid it being a grant??’ [Person A] said: ‘it was preferential that it was a contractual arrangement not grant because if it came out, every grower group would want a grant,’” he wrote.
“Monaro is in John’s electorate. Very circumspect as to what the agreement is about,” he added.
Guardian Australia approached Barilaro for comment in respect to the file note. Despite the concerns expressed in the document, there is no suggestion of any actual wrongdoing by Barilaro or any other public servant.
This new controversy about grants will renew the focus on the Berejiklian government and awarding of public funds.
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An estimates inquiry was told earlier this year that documents supporting another $200m community grants program had been shredded. Most of the funds went to Coalition seats before the 2019 election. There have also been questions over arts grants and community sports grants.
“All people want is open and transparent process when it comes to the allocation of public funds,” the opposition spokesman on rural affairs, Mick Veitch, said.
“As local member it is standard practice for the deputy premier to advocate for projects within the Monaro electorate,” a spokeswoman for Barilaro said.
She said Barilaro was not the minister for agriculture and does not have jurisdiction over the Department of Primary Industries.
“A personal file note written by an unidentified bureaucrat does not reflect government process,” she added.
However, other emails produced to the Upper House show Barilaro and his office lobbying the agriculture minister, Adam Marshall, to give money to MFS on at least four occasions.
MFS has been the recipient of numerous state and federal grants, totalling well over $800,000.
In 2018 MFS received $563,000 from National Landcare under its Smart Farming Partnerships program. It has also been receiving regular state grants via Local Land Services, which were used to fund a coordinator for the group.
In 2018, soon after an investigation was begun into illegal clearing of native grasslands by a Taylor-controlled company, the NSW government awarded MFS $107,000 to undertake work on new definitions of native grasslands.
The Guardian has previously revealed that the $107,000 grant, according to the current chair of MFS, John Murdoch, had come as “a bit of a surprise” to the company. NSW Local Land Services offered the money to MFS, without them having to apply.
At the time, Richard Taylor was chair of MFS and a director and shareholder in Jam Land, the company under investigation. Angus Taylor and Duncan and Bronwyn Taylor (the state MP) have indirect interests in Jam Land through their family companies.
The company was recently found to have contravened the federal Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act (EPBC Act) but was not fined. It is appealing an order to remediate the land.
Documents in the bundle produced to the Upper House show other grants were used to pay for a part-time coordinator for MFS.
But by 2019 these grants to MFS were coming to an end, and MFS began lobbying Barilaro, the local MP, for ongoing support.
In estimates in March, Marshall revealed that Barilaro had written to him in 2019 asking for another grant of $70,000 for MFS.
According to documents delivered in the bundle to the upper house, Marshall had written back saying there were no funds available from his department. The correspondence continued during 2020.
In November 2020 Marshall’s department found $20,000. But the emails didn’t stop. The deputy premier’s office soon followed up, wanting to know about “the remaining ask”.
In January 2021, the deputy director general of the primary industries department wrote to a colleague: “We have been directed by the Deputy Premier to provide them (MFS) with $50K to provide ‘outreach services and support industry adoption’ – they need to send us an invoice as well.
“I have nothing that I can send in terms of a schedule of work – you will just need to keep it high level and vague,” she wrote.
Marshall has promised an internal review of the grants to MFS.
The Guardian has previously revealed that Barilaro pushed the Department of Industry to support another Taylor family project, the Country Universities Centre, even though it failed a cost-benefit analysis. The CUC is chaired by Duncan Taylor, the husband of Bronnie Taylor.
The organisation received two grants of $8m from the state government plus $5.1m from the federal government.
In the federal parliament the Senate has asked questions about an $80m water buyback from Eastern Australian Agriculture, which was co-founded by Angus Taylor prior to entering parliament.
He has denied any role in securing the deal for the company and said he was not aware of it until it was announced.