Committee chair, Greens MP Cate Faehrmann, is asking Investment NSW boss Amy Brown about the optics of overlooking two women candidates in favour of former NSW deputy premier John Barilaro.

Faehrmann: Are you worried about how this whole process looks to other senior women in the public service?

Brown: I’m worried about how this process looks more broadly in terms of the amount of inaccuracies and oversight that occurred in the documentation process. And I am concerned that, combined with this amount of public scrutiny, will deter high performing talent, including women from the private sector, from ever wanting to apply for public service roles

Faehrmann: The minister was informed about the fact that obviously there’s the government’s target of increasing the proportion of women in senior leadership roles?

Brown: It was the subject of much discussion. He’s a big advocate of 50/50 female leadership in the public service ... I did talk to the minister about the fact that the first four appointments were male. When we were shortlisting for [the Americas role], we wanted to make sure that the majority of the shortlist was female.

Brown said that changed slightly when a woman was appointed to the China position.

Brown said they had not expected a successful female candidate for China. When a female candidate did receive the job, she said it eased pressure to appoint a woman to the Americas role.

Faehrmann asked whether the situation looked like a case of “jobs for the boys”.

Brown replied: “It’s not for me to express an opinion, but that is certainly the commentary I’ve seen in the media, yes.”