Barry O'Farrell's reforms will rule himself out of life-long entitlements
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Version 0 of 1. Barry O’Farrell has cut himself out of entitlements as a former premier, having introduced reforms that do not award perks unless a New South Wales premier has served for five years. Previous NSW premiers were granted life-long entitlements such as office space, air travel and use of state cars, but O’Farrell changed the rule two years ago. He reduced entitlements to 12 months after a premier leaves office and only when they have served for five years. He has served as premier for three years. The reform means O’Farrell will be entitled to no extra staff or expenses on top of what he will be able to claim if he leaves parliament. He has not specifically said if he plans to stay in parliament after resigning as premier on Wednesday when a handwritten note emerged in which he thanked the former Australian Water Holdings (AWH) chief executive Nick Di Girolamo for a $3,000 bottle of 1959 Penfolds Grange in 2011. O’Farrell had previously denied receiving the bottle of wine, which was not declared on his pecuniary interests. This month he released a statement touting the savings of his cuts to former-premier entitlements. He said for the first half of the 2013-14 financial year former premiers claimed $366,039, compared with $1.6m paid out in the 2011/12 financial year, which was the last full year under the previous scheme. The total for the 2012-13 financial year was $661,932. |