1. John Barilaro was the Minister for Regional New South Wales, Industry and Trade in the second Berejiklian ministry from April 2019, and a member of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly representing the electoral district of Monaro since 2011 until his resignation in October 2021.
John Barilaro is known for Barilaro v Shanks-Markovina, a defamation lawsuit brought against Jordan Shanks for Shanks' YouTube channel friendlyjordies, and Google as the publisher of the videos, as well as referring Shanks and a producer to the NSW Police Fixated Persons Unit, causing the producer, Kristo Langker, to be arrested on charges of stalking that were ultimately dismissed in March 2022.
An additional round of applications began, John Barilaro was the second ranked candidate prior to discussions with his CV references.
John Barilaro ultimately won the job and had his position confirmed but the scandal erupted in the middle of 2022 and he quit prior to moving to New York.
John Barilaro was involved in a physical altercation with a cameraman in 2022 and was charged with assault; however, the charges were dropped the following year due to concerns over his mental health.
John Barilaro was born in Queanbeyan to immigrant parents from Calabria, Italy.
John Barilaro has campaigned within his local community for a high school for the growing suburb of Jerrabomberra, and helped found the Monaro Panthers Football Club, before serving for eight years as its club president.
John Barilaro was elected as an independent councillor of Queanbeyan City Council in 2008 and served on the council until he ran for the National Party in the seat of Monaro at the 2011 state election.
John Barilaro won the seat from incumbent Labor Minister Steve Whan with an 8.2-point swing to the Nationals.
Baird rearranged his ministry following the 2015 state election, and John Barilaro was sworn in as the Minister for Regional Development, the Minister for Skills, and the Minister for Small Business in the second Baird government.
On 15 November 2016, John Barilaro was elected unopposed as leader of the National Party in New South Wales, following the resignation of Troy Grant.
On 1 December 2017, John Barilaro called for Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull to resign as a "Christmas gift" to Australians.
Turnbull subsequently accused John Barilaro of "trying to ingratiate himself" with radio presenter Alan Jones.
Turnbull stated he had called John Barilaro and left a message after previous criticism, but had not heard back, and suggested John Barilaro should have expressed his view to Turnbull personally, rather than "bagging [him] in the media".
Several federal ministers, including Julie Bishop and Mathias Cormann were critical of John Barilaro, with Cormann stating: "He is not a federal member of parliament, I don't know him, I have never met him, it is a regrettable comment, it is uncalled for, it is wrong, I reject it".
John Barilaro, who led the government's calls for 'city people to stay out of the regions' during the COVID-19 lockdowns was accused of "gross hypocrisy" by members of his own government, after it was revealed he spent a weekend 'on the farm' building a cubby house with his daughter.
In 2023, John Barilaro faced criticism from the Auditor-General for his involvement in the Bushfire Local Economic Recovery Program, which the auditor-general described as "lack[ing] integrity".
On 30 April 2020, John Barilaro was considering stepping down from State politics to contest the federal seat of Eden-Monaro in its upcoming by-election, following Mike Kelly's immediate resignation from politics owing to personal and familial health issues, but later withdrew his interest.
John Barilaro attributed the decision to a lack of support from Deputy Prime Minister Michael McCormack, whom he accused of fearing him as a leadership rival.
John Barilaro sent minister Andrew Constance an abusive text message while Constance was deliberating running for the by-election.
Constance claims John Barilaro's message convinced him "politics was stuffed", and he decided not to run.
In September 2020, John Barilaro threatened to move the Nationals to the crossbench in opposition to the government's policy to protect koalas, while National ministers maintained their positions in cabinet.
John Barilaro subsequently backed down and kept his ministry, though the government later shelved the koala protection bill, viewed as a 'win' for the Nationals at the time, though a 'regression' for koala protection.
An effigy of John Barilaro appeared at the 2021 Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras, depicting him as sitting inside a barrel; this was a reference to criticisms of "pork barrelling".
John Barilaro had spoken favourably of being given the nickname "Pork John Barilaro", saying that what is typically described as pork barrelling is "actually an investment".
John Barilaro appeared on stage in a Super Mario costume, at an event which Barilaro was attending.
In May 2021, John Barilaro lodged a defamation claim in the Federal Court against Shanks, as well as Google for refusing to delete the videos.
John Barilaro cited this case as one of the reasons for his resignation from parliament.
In June 2021, a friendlyjordies producer, Kristo Langker, was arrested by the Fixated Persons Unit of the Counter Terrorism and Special Tactics Command and charged with stalking John Barilaro, prompted by John Barilaro's complaints to the police; he pleaded not guilty.
Police allege he followed John Barilaro, repeatedly asking him why he was suing friendlyjordies.
Video footage of the incident shows the producer attempting to return legal documents to John Barilaro regarding the defamation suit.
Several notable figures have used social media to accuse John Barilaro of lying to the police regarding the statement.
John Barilaro settled his lawsuit against Shanks on 5 November 2021, with Shanks agreeing to apologise for the videos.
Shanks was liable for $100,000 in legal costs in relation to an unsuccessful application to have the case heard by a jury, but John Barilaro did not receive any money in the settlement.
On 30 June 2022, John Barilaro announced he was withdrawing from his role as NSW Trade Commissioner to the Americas, stating that his position had become untenable, due to the intense media scrutiny that his appointment had received.
On 23 July 2022, John Barilaro was involved in a physical altercation with a television cameraman outside a bar in Manly.
On 10 March 2023, Friendlyjordies released a video on YouTube, wherein he played leaked audio recordings taken of John Barilaro talking with colleagues prior to the 2021 Upper Hunter state by-election, where he admitted to pork barrelling election commitments amounting to over AU$100 million in an effort to win the election.
Shanks published a similar video featuring an extended version of the same conversation, in which John Barilaro admitted he was purposefully "making foolish election commitments" to win the seat.
In 2019, John Barilaro voiced his support for the decriminalisation of abortion, stating that 30 years earlier he had a girlfriend who had an abortion after she got pregnant while together with John Barilaro.
In October 2021, John Barilaro announced his separation from his wife of 26 years, Deanna.
In December 2021, it was revealed John Barilaro was in a relationship with his former long-time media adviser and described "uber-loyalist" Jennifer Lugsdin.