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Barry O'Farrell resigns as NSW premier after thankyou card for wine emerges Barry O'Farrell resigns as NSW premier after thank you card for wine emerges
(about 1 hour later)
Barry O’Farrell has resigned as the New South Wales premier after announcing that a signed thankyou note for a $3,000 bottle of wine would emerge at the Independent Commission Against Corruption (Icac). Barry O’Farrell has resigned as the New South Wales premier after announcing that a signed thank you note for a $3,000 bottle of wine had been tendered to the Independent Commission Against Corruption (Icac).
The premier maintained he had no recollection of receiving the bottle of Penfolds Grange which the former chief executive of Australian Water Holdings (AWH) Nick Di Girolamo told Icac that he had given as a gift to O’Farrell. But he did “accept that there is a thankyou note signed by me”. On Wednesday morning the inquiry received a card from O’Farrell to former Australian Water Holdings (AWH) chief executive Nick Di Girolamo thanking him for his gift of “wonderful wine”.
O’Farrell had denied receiving the wine when he gave evidence to Icac on Tuesday. O’Farrell denied receiving the bottle of 1959 Penfolds Grange when he gave evidence to Icac on Tuesday. Di Girolamo had told the inquiry he had sent the wine to O’Farrell.
The premier’s decision came after the courier company that allegedly delivered the wine from the headquarters of AWH to O’Farrell’s home was asked to provide documentary evidence to the corruption inquiry. Announcing his resignation at a press conference at the state parliament, O’Farrell said: “I’ve been advised overnight that a thank you note from me in relation to the bottle of wine will be presented.”
He said: “I still can’t recall the receipt of the gift of the bottle of 59 Grange. I can’t explain what happened to that bottle of wine, but I do accept that if there is a thank you note signed by me, and as someone who believes in accountability … I accept the consequences of my actions.”
He said the evidence that he gave Icac on Tuesday “was to the best of my knowledge”. “I believed it to be truthful,” he said.
“Clearly it was significant memory fail on my part.”
In a statement, O'Farrell maintained that he did not set out to deceive Icac.
"In no way did I seek to mislead willfully or (otherwise mislead) the Independent Commission Against Corruption," he said.
"That would go against everything I am."
He said there would be a meeting of the parliamentary Liberal party next week where he would resign and enable a new leader to be elected premier of New South Wales.
O'Farrell has been recalled to appear before the inquiry in Sydney at noon.
The prime minister, Tony Abbott, hailed O’Farrell’s resignation as “an act of integrity, an act of honour the like of which we have rarely seen in Australian politics”.The prime minister, Tony Abbott, hailed O’Farrell’s resignation as “an act of integrity, an act of honour the like of which we have rarely seen in Australian politics”.
Icac is investigating AWH and the circumstances around its attempt to secure a public-private partnership deal to deliver water infrastructure to Sydney’s north-west. The deal stood to make millions of dollars for people linked to the company, the inquiry has heard, including the former Labor powerbroker Eddie Obeid and Liberal senator Arthur Sinodinos. Abbott said: "I admire him tremendously for this, although I deeply regret the necessity of it."
Icac is investigating AWH and the circumstances around its attempt to secure a public-private partnership deal to deliver water infrastructure to Sydney’s north-west. People linked to the company stood to make millions of dollars from the deal , the inquiry has heard, including the former Labor powerbroker Eddie Obeid and Liberal senator Arthur Sinodinos.
Di Girolamo claimed on Tuesday he had sent O’Farrell the wine – from 1959, the year the premier was born – as a gift after the state Liberals won office in March 2011.Di Girolamo claimed on Tuesday he had sent O’Farrell the wine – from 1959, the year the premier was born – as a gift after the state Liberals won office in March 2011.
On Tuesday, O’Farrell categorically denied receiving the bottle of wine. "If [the wine] had been received I don't believe I would have forgotten it,” he said.On Tuesday, O’Farrell categorically denied receiving the bottle of wine. "If [the wine] had been received I don't believe I would have forgotten it,” he said.
The NSW premier was shown an invoice from the courier company for the delivery of the wine, and a call record from 20 April, 2011, the same day the wine was purchased, showing O’Farrell had contacted Di Girolamo for 28 seconds. He was shown an invoice from the courier company for the delivery of the wine, and a call record from 20 April 2011, the same day the wine was purchased, showing O’Farrell had contacted Di Girolamo for 28 seconds.
“I don’t know about this phone call, but what I do know is if I’d received a bottle of 1959 Penfold Grange I’d have known about it,” O’Farrell said. The courier company that was said to have delivered the wine from the headquarters of AWH to O’Farrell’s home, Direct Couriers Australia, was asked to provide documentary evidence to the corruption inquiry on Wednesday.
A spokesman for Direct Couriers told Guardian Australia the company had been asked by Icac to provide documents relating to the delivery for a Wednesday morning deadline. A spokesman for the company said the Wednesday morning deadline set by Icac had been met. "All the documents have been supplied," he said.