‘Something has to be done’: Agent-general’s message to minister over trade job entitlements | AlexSmithSMH LucyCormack
The Agent-General Stephen Cartwright met then-Treasury secretary Mike Pratt for breakfast to discuss his chances of securing the London-based role even though a candidate had already been selected for the position.
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. “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!”
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. The first screening interview Broadbent conducted with Cartwright took place one week after she received the initial request from Pratt.