O’Farrell resigns

A thread for discussion of today’s shock resignation of New South Wales Premier Barry O’Farrell.

New South Wales will shortly have its fifth Premier in seven years following the bombshell resignation of Barry O’Farrell, who was today embarrassed by the emergence of a card in which he thanked Australian Water Holdings boss Nick Di Girolamo for a $3000 bottle of wine he yesterday denied having received. O’Farrell is the state’s second Liberal Premier to have been brought down by the exertions of the Independent Commission Against Corruption, Nick Greiner having fallen foul of an adverse ruling in 1992 involving a job offer to Liberal-turned-independent MP Terry Metherell. It now falls to the Liberal Party to find a replacement: without being too aware of the daily machinations of New South Wales politics, my immediate presumption was that the Treasurer, Mike Baird, would be the front-runner. However, I am seeing Gladys Berejiklian, Andrew Constance, Brad Hazzard and Jillian Skinner mentioned around the place.

Author: William Bowe

William Bowe is a Perth-based election analyst and occasional teacher of political science. His blog, The Poll Bludger, has existed in one form or another since 2004, and is one of the most heavily trafficked websites on Australian politics.

721 comments on “O’Farrell resigns”

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  1. Fran Barlow@494

    Apparently on ebay and several other places prices varied from nearly $5000 to about $7,500

    Yesterday ABC TV News at Noon in Sydney reported it as worth $6000, but all other reports said $3000.

    The invoices produced at ICAC should just under $3000 was paid – so I don’t know what Pvo is smoking.

    Poor losers – they would be putting the boot in if it had been an opponent.

  3. [Even , which it is not , a “mere” $2,000 a bottle how do ya reckon the optics are in the same week Shrek was berating pensioners , the unemployed and the disabled about what a bunch of “entitlement” bludgers they are and how they must get less ?]

    Totally not a good look. As I said earlier, I think commentators like PvO need to tap down their emotions on this. I get they’re in shock over BOF, but it’s not like it’s the end of the world.

  5. Anything I may have been offered throughout the dedicated, tireless, loyal, unswerving, devoted, committed years of my public service, I would have refused.

    No one tested me, however.

  6. ABC TV News in Sydney haven’t shown abbott’s ‘brain fart’ yet and am not holding my breadth.

    But again any Labor boil over like that would have been shown.

    ABC going easy easy. Quentin Dumpster ‘mis-speaking’ ? on selection of the new Premier –

    “We don’t want to go through this again”.

  7. [gifts like invites to the footy or bottles of wine or dinner]

    It isn’t just limited to those high end gifts, which is why I’ve said a blanket ban is ridiculous.

    I’ve received bouquets of flowers, a cake baked by a local CWA, even crocheted stuff like those stupid dust collectors that sit on toilet rolls (and seriously, who uses these things?) from stakeholders.

    Rejecting these gifts would be seen as insulting. Much better to just accept them, declare them, get approval for them, and if you don’t like them, there’s always the office secret santa. 🙂

  8. [That question the young female reporter from the Australian (of all places) asked Abbott today was an absolute doozy. Any more of that and we might have to start modifying our view of said shit sheet.

    ]

    Murdoch will only support Abbott for as long as it suits his purposes. There are people in the Liberal Party who would be better suited to Murdoch’s aims than Abbott.

  9. Socrates
    [Posted Wednesday, April 16, 2014 at 6:58 pm | PERMALINK
    Oh, THAT bottle of Grange! Silly me. Well I think I will resign now.

    Yes, it is all perfectly innocent and believable. After spending sixteen years gaining power, O’Farrell is content to give it away in a day after discovering one overlooked piece of paper… Sure!

    This is as believable as the stated reasons for the Rudd sacking.]

    Sky commentators and their ABC sure have spun it that way

  10. How the bottle leaked: did someone target Barry O’Farrell?

    The barrister leading an ICAC inquiry has raised questions about whether damaging information about Premier Barry O’Farrell’s $3000 bottle of wine was strategically leaked to the media to bring him down.

    In the final minutes of a 23-day inquiry into the company linked to the Obeid family, the man who admitted he gave Mr O’Farrell the Penfolds Grange Hermitage was asked how the media knew about the gift “before ICAC did”.

  11. [Peter van Onselen ‏@vanOnselenP 15m
    Here’s a hash tag to get going on twitter #BringBackBarry. NSW Liberal party room, over to you…don’t accept his resignation. #PVOnewshour]

    Fark. This is beyond grieving.

  12. [ABC TV News in Sydney haven’t shown abbott’s ‘brain fart’ yet and am not holding my breadth.]

    ABC Radio News overnight had no mention of the NSW Coal mine collapse and deaths, even though Delroy and Chapel were giving updates in their shows.

    It comes from WA until 3am apparently, so no Eastern states stuff required.

  16. [You cant buy an Australian government lawyer or officer of the ATO a cup of coffee
    ]

    They seem to be allowed to accept them at morning tea and they provide morning tea when you go to them. I know where I’d rather have morning tea and it isn’t at the ATO. But yeah in a coffee shop I don’t even offer. Last time it wasn’t even discussed before hand, each of us ATO public servant and my good self purchased our beverage.

  17. Tony Windsor has his say:

    [Tony Windsor ‏@TonyHWindsor 42m
    @Miatke_4_Senate @cscviews @vanOnselenP @barryofarrell VanOnselen has a bad habit of forgetting facts particularly about Premiers]

  18. [Peter van Onselen ‏@vanOnselenP 15m
    Here’s a hash tag to get going on twitter #BringBackBarry. NSW Liberal party room, over to you…don’t accept his resignation. #PVOnewshour]

    Thought this was a joke. One can hope it’s real.

  19. When I worked for the commercial company of ANU, every gift had to be declared and given to the accounts dept.

    Most was used at the xmas party, but nobody kept anything.

  21. shellbell

    [
    You cant buy an Australian government lawyer or officer of the ATO a cup of coffee]
    I used to work for a Seppo multinational and I have kicked myself for not downloading this from the internal web site while I had the chance. Until 2001 9/11 and all that you could log on and look at the company’s official “Bribery Policy” . Bribery was OK overseas ie not America as long as it involved paying local officials or government representatives for the provision of “essential services” . Water , electricity , postal service and the like.

  22. [ABC24 airing NdG’s appointment to Sydney Water as signed off by Mike Baird.]

    If that’s the case then Baird’s career has hit a speed hump.

  23. [ ABC24 airing NdG’s appointment to Sydney Water as signed off by Mike Baird. ]

    So Baird is hardly a cleansking as regards AWH??

  24. Fran Barlow

    [Thought this was a joke. One can hope it’s real.]
    Having watched the extraordinary effort by PvO in defending Boffa on his program it is entirely possible that it is for real.

  25. [ABC24 airing NdG’s appointment to Sydney Water as signed off by Mike Baird.]

    Some OM commentator made the observation today that the NSW Liberals were “hopelessly divided”.

    Let the fun and games begin!

  26. O’Farrell’s first Ministerial casualty comes to mind. He appointed a respected lawyer to Sydney Water, maybe this is why he was sacked, called a drunk and accused of nepotism?

  28. I’m offering a bottle of grange (55 vintage, no less) for anyone with selfies of Nick G and Tony A together at a liberal fundraiser. If they’re cuddling, you get a crate.

  29. Sarah Henderson on 7 30 just gave Nick Greiner a real grilling about the whole fiasco and Greiner’s role in creating AWH.
    Greiner was visibly furious.

  30. [ Peter van Onselen ‏@vanOnselenP 15mHere’s a hash tag to get going on twitter #BringBackBarry. NSW Liberal party room, over to you…don’t accept his resignation. #PVOnewshour]

    Are we sure this is not a paraody account?

    I heard there was a fake Chris Pyne account talking about the “pink vodka cruisers” he had been sending Barry.

    I guess this resignation will be comedy fodder for a while yet.

  31. [ABC24 airing NdG’s appointment to Sydney Water as signed off by Mike Baird.

    If that’s the case then Baird’s career has hit a speed hump.]

    Fortunately they have quite a few government MPs in NSW. Sooner or later they’ll find someone who hasn’t had any contact with AWH.

    In the meantime Gladys will be hoping that Mike’s career path is derailed.

  32. Henry – Nick (former chairman of a cigarette company who recently got hammered by a judge) is a turd of the first order. But he established ICAC. Go figure.
    Sarah’s great.

  38. [ Gladys for premier]

    There does seem to be popular support for her and she carries none of the religious baggage Mike Baird does, will be interesting to watch.

    Ultimately a decision for the NSW Liberal party room and then more formally a question for Governor Bashir. Speaking of which, she must surely be the longest-serving NSW governor in history?

  40. Henry 529

    ‘Sarah Henderson on 7 30 just gave Nick Greiner a real grilling about the whole fiasco and Greiner’s role in creating AWH.
    Greiner was visibly furious’.

    Well, there you go. · 72

    crikey whitey

    Posted Wednesday, April 16, 2014 at 12:36 pm | Permalink

    How hard do you think it will be for 7:30 report to get a Liberal pollie on for an interview tonight??

    Greiner might do it.

  41. [ Nope. Real.Blue tick of endorsement says so.]

    Oh dear.

    PvO has lost the plot then.

    Don’t cry for Barry, he is already dead.

  42. Apparently the NSW Liberal leader vote has been brought forward to 3pm tomorrow – was going to be next week.

    Why the undue haste?

  44. [Gladys for premier]

    She would be the best choice, thats why she has no chance. I pick Heffernan’s protege. The Member for (not living that much in) Bega.

  45. You think Tony Abbott lost it when asked about corruption in NSW government, well let’s see how he reacts when the Central Coast Liberal party doings gets aired at ICAC.

  47. [1. Why didn’t he, standing on his front doorstep, make the decision to send the very generous present back with a “thanks, no thanks” note to Nick Di Girolamo, knowing about the influence the bottle of wine was supposed to buy?

    2. If he kept the wine, why didn’t he declare it?

    3. If he genuinely could not remember the bottle of wine, why didn’t he say “I don’t recall”, then wait for the dust to settle and have stringent checks undertaken while his memory was repairing itself?

    These are questions O’Farrell could well be asking himself right now.]

    http://ausopinion.com/2014/04/16/corkedbottlegrange/

  48. Gladys is my age. Her appointment, were it to happen, might rejuvenate the front bench to pension off time servers like Hazzard and Souris et al and promote the 40 somethings who are streets ahead.

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