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.
Jackol
BOF was asked about this gift on the 6th March by a journo from the daily terror
[There seems to be some sympathy for him as many regard him as an honest toiler but it just begs the question as to why his counsel allowed him to go down this road. He knew well in advance he would be asked about the wine.]
The part where he went on about how he’d have remembered receiving such a stand out gift can be seen here:
https://twitter.com/Kate_McClymont/status/456243023236452353/photo/1
It’s one of the reasons why I don’t believe that he genuinely forgot receiving it.
[Or the phone call. Or the hand written note. Or where he was at the time he didn’t receive it. (Was he really holidaying on the Gold Coast?)]
I too find it implausible that one would holiday on the Gold Coast.
Jackol – If the ICAC said that the dodgy Nicky G used $3,000 over Water Board money to make a present to Barry (which Barry did NOT declare) for the purposes of influencing said Barry, that would have been very damaging. May not seem like much. But they are the ICAC and he is the premier.
[I too find it implausible that one would holiday on the Gold Coast.]
Yep one holidays on the Sunshine Coast, one associates with Criminal Motorcycle Gangs on the Gold Coast. 😆
victoria –
And? What does that show? If he didn’t remember the whole bottle scenario then he would have thought the journo was just running off a random misleading thing that had nothing to do with him.
It does show that he was (and should have) been well aware the questions could come up/were coming up at ICAC, but that kind of reinforces the general point – what on earth was he thinking to not just say “I don’t recall” and not land himself in the hot water he did.
Anyone getting sensible legal advice would have avoided that issue.
But he didn’t. Why? It just seems inexplicable. Or colossal stupidity, and I really don’t think BO’F is colossally stupid.
If Bazza couldn’t genuinely remember the bottle then it makes me wonder what else was going on if a three grand freebie slips so easily from the his memory. Was that gift a mere trifle compared to bigger stuff?
William Bowe:
[I too find it implausible that one would holiday on the Gold Coast.]
😀
Yep, I once went there for a wedding. *shudder*
Of course it would have been politically damaging, but as I understand it there would have been no formal finding from ICAC and (with some political skin lost along the way) BO’F could have continued on as premier.
That’s the perplexing thing about why he would choose to take the path he did in ICAC if he didn’t think he was telling the truth.
Of course he could remember the 3 grand bottle of wine.
What did you want him to say?
ICAC should investigate the AWB kick backs to Dolly’s mate Saddam!
The fall of O’Farrell breaches the seemingly stout Liberal wall in NSW
Now what ?…. who is to be leader ”
If one looks at other situations in Oz where t
..you choose a woman
…..Carmen Lawrence.Joan Kirner,Cristina Kennelly,Julia Gillard
…and then it is all down hill from there!
The continuum of response to BOFs departure ranges from “honourable but forgetful man falls on his sword” to “He was hoping like hell that unless the thank-you note was found he could bluster through” – in which case his “can’t recall” about the phone call was false and we can’t but wonder which other of his many “can’t recall”s are hiding at least an embarrassment if not something worse. The middle of this continuum doesn’t seem to me to be populated with too many alternatives.
I take it as significant that yesterday he said “I did not receive a bottle of grange” NOT “I don’t remember receiving a bottle of grange”
It’s good that he has left the premiership but maybe there’s a bigger bullet he should be biting – a resignation from politics.
Its intriguing that Abbott and Greiner can only see one end of the continuum and I can only really see the other!
Funny that.
Jackol – “I don’t recall” was not an option because that would have basically left Nicky G’s evidence (and the objective evidence) uncontradicted, and would have looked dreadfully evasive (unbecoming a premier). His only options were “I did get the bottle and didn’t declare it – mea culpa” and “I didn’t get the bottle.”
I think it was a pretty tough call because he was desperately concerned to sever any possible connection with Nicky J. In retrospect, he should have taken Option 1 (and he might have JUST survived).
I did all the rides when I went over there (Gold Coast) with my beautiful daughter about a decade ago.
She couldn’t get me off them 😈
Diog –
[That’s pretty sneaky. If they showed all the evidence yesterday when they questioned BOF, he wouldn’t have gotten in nearly as much trouble.]
It’s not sneaky. If he genuinely couldn’t recall, he could say so.
If he remembered, he could say so.
If he wanted to say positively that he didn’t receive it, he could say so.
None of those things is affected by the document. His credit as a witness, however, is.
All of this stinks to high heaven of something much bigger just under the surface.
Anyone got a video of Abbott getting grumpy with the media?
Jackol – I could easily be wrong, but why couldn’t the ICAC say that taking a $3000 bottle of wine, and not declaring it, is “corrupt conduct”. The amount in question is not the issue.
What a marvellously corrupt old convict colony Sydney still is….Governor Macquarie if he came back would still feel at home
Manning Clark once said…:Melbourne was a very straight laced victorian city, while Sydney is still a corrupt georgian convict colony
[If Bazza couldn’t genuinely remember the bottle then it makes me wonder what else was going on if a three grand freebie slips so easily from the his memory. Was that gift a mere trifle compared to bigger stuff?]
Excellent question. Does he get so many valuable gifts as ‘thanks’ that he can’t remember them, even if they have a very personal touch (being bottled on his birthday… seriously, who wouldn’t remember that?).
Centre@141
Pulease.
He resigned because there was no alternative and many people including most media outlets are laying the BS on with a trowel.
If it had been a Labor person caught out in the same way, the entire Labor movement would have been coping a shellacking from all and sundry.
It defies belief that he –
a) Cannot recall receiving the wine or what happened to it etc
b) Cannot recall making a thank you phone call the night the booze was delivered, and
c) Cannot recall writing and signing a thank you note.
Labor would have been kicked to death by now if the positions had been reversed.
Now ICAC have to decide to pursue perjury charges or not. Thats totally different from corruption.
If ICAC let it rest are ‘others’ then entitled to the same ‘treatment’ when caught out.
Patrick
Try this:
http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/tony-abbott-defends-barry-ofarrell-as-a-man-of-honour-20140416-zqveh.html
How long before picks of Tone and Nick at functions start turning up. There must be heaps.
So I’m guessing that since BOF is not charged with any criminal offenses? that he will still keep Perks & Pensions?
The essential thread is also in full swing on the BOF issue.
This really is gold for Labor federally.
After Arthur’s little brain failure and now this, every time Abbott and co try to use Obeid and friends to attack Labor, it will remind people of the Liberals who copped a hiding in ICAC.
And Labor can adopt that “something rotten in the state of NSW” line, rather than having to defend itself.
Plus O’Farrell’s resignation and Abbott’s ringing endorsement of what integrity it shows is a wonderful setup for any future scandal involving a Liberal federal minister.
K17 –
Nonsense. Sure it would have left a $3000 bottle in some state, probably with the premier, but … most people wouldn’t care.
ICAC was not going to care besides documenting it as part of the relationship they were trying to establish between NdG and the government/premier.
Given the stakes involved (ie his career and his government) “I don’t recall” and continuing as a somewhat-dirtied figure would seem a vastly better outcome compared to what has happened (and what was an obvious consequence if his “lies” were so easily exposed, as he would have known they would be).
It doesn’t make sense to me. Him actually not recalling the bottle at all seems more plausible to me.
zoilords – Not charged yet. There is now the question of misleading the commission. Could be a year before we find out about that.
PB
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G_JIQ9SvRQk
Abbott’s dummy spit.
Has the NSW OL commented as yet?
Jackol – In hindsight, Bazza made a catastrophic mistake. Only he will really understand his calculations, if he made any.
[PatriciaKarvelas @PatsKarvelas 2m
That didn’t take long. @MikeforPremier twitter account set up to build support for Baird to become Premier. #auspol]
This is what happens when i go out, must go out more often maybe next time it will be Tone that resigns.
K17 –
“Corrupt conduct” would require that BO’F acted in an improper way as a result of payment/gifts/favours. There has been no suggestion that BO’F acted improperly in any of the AWH dealings.
The worst that could have happened is that BO’F would have been seen to have violated the rules about declaring gifts. That has consequences of course, but probably not career ending ones for a $3000 bottle of wine.
[Patrick]
[Try this]
Christ, Abbott really is terrible when he doesn’t have a script.
And when challenged by a woman, he goes into bully/humiliate mode instantly. Singles her out and demands ‘evidence’ on live TV, obviously intended to force a backdown through psychological pressure.
Funny how the media have to provide evidence to Tony to support allegations but not the other way around, eh?
I can’t say what I think of this disgusting person without getting banned for life by William.
Dave
What a pity Craig Thompson didn’t come clean straight away. He could have exposed the lot of them.
Let’s clean up all corruption in politics, I don’t care which side of politics they are on!
Integrity 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th.
Patrick B:
[All of this stinks to high heaven of something much bigger just under the surface.]
I agree. BOF pulled the pin. This Nick Di G guy is radioactive, and BOF’s association with him was perhaps deeper than he has claimed thus far. Greg Pearce was making noises to that effect (although I wouldn’t necessarily trust his word.)
Perhaps, part of the problem in all of this, was that Bazza really couldn’t consult anyone. He could hardly throw a leg over the desk of a political adviser and say: “look, I got the frikkin bottle, but do you reckon I should pretend I didn’t.”
[BOF’s association with him was perhaps deeper than he has claimed thus far]
Based on the levels of clammy sweat on our lizard person leader’s reptilian head, I wonder who else he was associated with.
[ deblonay
Posted Wednesday, April 16, 2014 at 2:20 pm | Permalink
What a marvellously corrupt old convict colony Sydney still is….Governor Macquarie if he came back would still feel at home ]
Slag off at Sydney all you like, the wheel will turn and it will be Melbournes time in due course.
But get your facts correct.
Macquarie wasn’t corrupt, things were changing. He in fact took on the vested interests, the Macarthurs etc. Macquarie was the first Governor to see and act like the colony could become much more that a penal colony and comported himself accordingly with fine new buildings, a hospital etc.
So when the Napoleonic wars ended the colony was well placed to participate in the resumption of world trade.
[179
confessions
PatriciaKarvelas @PatsKarvelas 2m
That didn’t take long. @MikeforPremier twitter account set up to build support for Baird to become Premier. #auspol]
The threshold question must be whether Baird has had any dealings with AWH or its directors…..
[Him actually not recalling the bottle at all seems more plausible to me]
More plausible to me is that he didn’t see the ambush up ahead. The invoice for delivering the bottle followed by the phone record and then, just this morning, the revelation of the Thank You note. He hadn’t considered that any of that would come to light. He’s been royally screwed over by experts in bastardry.
briefly 188
You can bet your bottom dollar that those questions will be asked.
The smartest politician of them all, one P Keating said this.
“You never start a Royal Commission or an ICAC investigation unless you KNOW the outcome in advance”
Smart words & now hopefully now watch out Tony Rabbott on your political witch hunts. It is amazing how manage to kick one in the arse.
And all this stems from lobbying at the state level – imagine what happens at the federal level. Quite scary really.
briefly:
Very true.
TH –
Again, if he had actually remembered the bottle and everything around it, he would have known that all that evidence was available and a deliberate lie would be easily exposed.
Definite shades of this in Abbott’s demeanour before the media, I would say:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kXdcS_7CA1o&feature=youtu.be
“You’re not saying anything, Tony.”
John of Belrose
Can we bring back Paul he would sort them all out?
I’m not a wine expert but even i know a bottle of Penfolds is expensive up there with MOET and Chandon
I can understand someone who wasn’t a wine person not knowing but i suspect Nick G would have done his homework on the Premier’s taste to see what sort of gift would best suit.
No point buying a gift that the person your trying to impress isn’t going to like.
Centre@183
No problem with that, but BOF is no hero. He is no saint. He got caught out and ran out of other options.
The more people talk about BOF’s “integrity and honour” in the context of ICAC and the bottle of wine the more they are fooling themselves.
Again – It defies belief that he –
a) Cannot recall receiving the wine or what happened to it etc
b) Cannot recall making a thank you phone call the night the booze was delivered, and
c) Cannot recall writing and signing a thank you note.
[I’m not a wine expert but even i know a bottle of Penfolds is expensive up there with MOET and Chandon]
Try approximately 60 times more expensive than your average bottle of Moet.