Nashid Chowdhury: Indian trade envoy employed family’s carer as interpreter, months before EA role

WA’s trade envoy to India employed the family babysitter as an interpreter on two high-profile delegations, months before he was contracted as her executive assistant. Nashid Chowdhury, who runs the Indian and Gulf region Invest and Trade mission from her office in Chennai, employed Robin Balraj, a carer for one of her children, in the role for a trip involving multiple State MPs, including Speaker Michelle Roberts. Department of Tourism director-general Simone Spencer said Mr Balraj, who is also mentored by Ms Chowdhury, was paid 30,000 Indian rupees, or $550, to travel around India and translate for drivers. “This individual was employed as a contractor, an interpreter, for a week during two concurrent investment and trade missions in India. The department paid that individual just over $A500 for that service,” Ms Spencer said. “There were two missions: one was the Speaker’s mission and the other was an international education mission, which meant that the in-market team did not have enough individuals available for language translation. “We were moving a significant number of delegates around market, so to be able to make sure that drivers were given correct directions and logistics were managed, this individual was in our employ for that one week.” A Department spokesman said: “Mr Balraj was engaged for a brief period to assist with language interpretation and travel logistics in remote parts of India, due to in-market resourcing issues at the time.” The Department confirmed Ms Chowdhury had informed the agency of her existing relationship with Mr Balraj. The trip took the group — including Mrs Roberts, Labor MPs Jags Krishnan, David Scaife, Cassie Rowe and Liberal MP David Honey — to Chennai, Mysore, Bangalore, Mumbai, Kolkata in India and Bhutan. A report on the Speaker’s visit states the visit to India and Bhutan was to provide an opportunity for parliamentarians to gain a greater knowledge and understanding of the nations’ economies, cultures, governments, political and industrial sectors “The themes explored during the visit were education, critical minerals, creative industries, and cultural connection,” the report states. The group met with politicians across both nations, attended a WA Day event in Mumbai, and visited the set of India’s Best Dancer. The report lists several staff from the Indian trade office who accompanied the MPs on the trip, however, Mr Balraj was not included. The West has previously revealed Mr Balraj was employed by Ms Chowdhury as a temporary executive assistant from October last year. Asked whether the Department was informed of Mr Balraj’s employment by Ms Chowdhury, Ms Spencer said it had been made aware. “Ms Chowdhury engaged this particular individual as a carer for her children,” Ms Spencer said during estimates. “One of her children has a profound disability, so he provides services such as making sure that the child has effective medication administration, which is something that other care and support staff in her household are not able to do. “We are aware that Nashid has paid for that out of her own income and that is not something for which the department has incurred costs.” Department director-general Rebecca Brown said she was confident the matters raised in The West’s investigation were “not serious” and there was relevant background. Labelling The West’s investigation as a “fine piece of journalistic work”, Premier Roger Cook told Parliamentary estimates in May the Government was confident appropriate conflict measures had been followed.