NSW Premier Chris Minns has brushed away concerns the newly-appointed state transport secretary is not fit for the role after an assessment described him as a “significant risk”.

Josh Murray began his role this month, leading nearly 30,000 people in the running of daily transport services across New South Wales.

However, government documents shared in the upper house on Wednesday revealed an external recruiter had not recommended him for the top job.

NGS Global said back in May that Mr Murray had “some relevance” but did not have the “level of operation complexity required” for the near $600,000-a-year salaried position.  

Transport Minister Jo Haylen on Thursday said she rejected that assessment. 

“I believe he has the skills and experience to do the job,” she said.

“Ultimately the proof will be in the pudding.”

“This is a very difficult job, and I am urging people to give Mr Murray an opportunity to do it,” Mr Minns added.

Parallels to John Barilaro

The Minns government has been accused of political hypocrisy as parallels were drawn between Mr Murray’s appointment and John Barilaro. 

Last August, the former trade minister Stuart Ayres resigned over his appointment of Mr Barilaro to a lucrative senior trade and investment commissioner to the Americas.

The former deputy premier withdrew from the New York-based position and its $500,000 annual salary last June over concerns in the recruitment process.

Mr Minns criticised Mr Barilaro’s appointment at the time after inquiries found another woman was offered the job first.

The now-premier said the situation wasn’t comparable between Mr Murray and Mr Barilaro. 

“Stuart Ayres repeatedly from the very beginning of process insisted he had nothing to do with the recruitment, the soliciting of the proposal to the former minister John Barilaro – the circumstances aren’t the same,” Mr Minns said.

Mr Murray said the job advertisement was shared with him by a “large number of people”, including by Ms Haylen’s chief of staff Scott Gartell. 

Ms Haylen claimed the act was “appropriate” given the advertisement was public at the time.

Emails later showed Mr Gartell recommended Mr Murray be given an interview despite initially being categorised as a “Group C: Under review or not recommended to proceed”.

Ms Haylen said Mr Gartell’s comments were merely a suggestion and not a hiring direction. 

The premier’s office later offered Mr Murray the position after separately meeting with an independent panel and Ms Haylen.

However, Mr Murray assured he received no special treatment and only applied for the job when the advertisement had gone up. 

“I can assure … I went through a very robust process that was run by the NSW premier’s department and independent experts and I sat through those sessions like everybody else,” he said.

Controversial appointment

Mr Murray’s background has largely been in corporate affairs in the private sector and had previously worked as a ministerial advisor for the NSW government, and chief of staff for the former Labor premier Morris Iemma.

“I’m of course disappointed that it has attracted so much attention over the last few weeks, but I expected that because of the importance of the role,” he told radio station 2GB on Thursday.

Mr Murray acknowledged there would be a level of scrutiny against him that wouldn’t apply to other candidates with a background in the transport industry.

“I figured my 15 years [of experience] would speak for itself,” he later told ABC Sydney Radio.

Oppositional backlash 

Deputy Opposition Leader and Shadow Minister for Transport and Roads Natalie Ward described the situation as “very concerning” given the recruitment process cost $125,000.

Ms Ward told ABC Radio Sydney on Thursday morning that her party will pursue the matter further, including pushing for a potential inquiry.

“Something like the trains network … the importance of operational experience running these things is critical,” said Ms Ward.

“In these jobs you’ve got to have the public interest first. It’s not a play-thing for your mates.”

Ms Ward accused the Minns government of wasting taxpayer dollars.

Mr Minns told media that Ms Haylen wanted to ensure a wide pool of applicants had been considered.

“She wanted to see what the market had in terms of the job applicants for this position. In the end it was clear that Josh Murray was the right person for the job.

“This was not a ‘job for a mate’, this is a very difficult position.”

Prior interactions with transport minister

Mr Murray acknowledged he has met Ms Haylen before, but denied he was close friends with her.

“I’ve met the minister on a couple of occasions including when she was shadow minister,” he said.

“We had a meeting earlier this year, it was well publicised at the time.

“In fact there was a meeting that was held at parliament house and properly registered but it had nothing to do with this process.”

Ms Haylen said she had met with “many” transport and infrastructure experts at the time because she was “seeking advice about how we deal with the mess left by the former government”.

“It was not a job interview.”

Mr Murray said the vacancy was not mentioned in his previous meetings with the minister and that he was not job hunting at the time.

“It was a ‘getting to know you’ situation shortly after the government had been elected. It was a brief meeting and it was publicly declared in the middle of parliament house,” he said.

“I’m here for a reason. I want to make better services for the people of NSW … I look forward to getting on with the job here.”