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O'Farrell resigns - what next for NSW?

Between catching up at the footy, the fortnightly phone calls and the charity dinners, 2011-era NSW Premier Barry O'Farrell and then-Australian Water Holdings chief executive Nick Di Girolamo were nothing short of chummy.

But their decision to swap a gift and a handwritten "thank you" note three years ago have now cost Mr O'Farrell his job and left Mr Di Girolamo fending off corruption allegations.

Emerging from the Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) hearing room on Wednesday, Mr Di Girolamo was grilled over a $3000 bottle of Penfolds Grange he gave the new premier in April 2011 - the vintage drop Mr O'Farrell wrongly claimed he had never received.

"Are you responsible for bringing down the premier?" one reporter asked.

"No," Mr Di Girolamo replied.

Mr O'Farrell had told the ICAC he never received the gift but was forced on Wednesday to correct his evidence after a handwritten card, in which he thanked Mr Di Girolamo for the "wonderful" wine, was tendered to the ICAC.


The corruption watchdog learned of the note's existence at 9.17am on Wednesday, counsel assisting, Geoffrey Watson SC said - only half an hour before Mr O'Farrell called a press conference for his bombshell announcement.

Mr Di Girolamo told reporters he'd had a stressful day and was "very tired" after a third long spell in the witness box.

Earlier this week, he told the inquiry he spoke to Mr O'Farrell as often as fortnightly around late 2010 and early 2011.

But Mr O'Farrell said he spoke to the heavyweight Liberal donor only every other month.

"Occasionally we would text about the woeful results of the Wests Tigers," a then-cheerier Mr O'Farrell told the commission on Tuesday.

The ICAC's Operation Credo is now complete but a related investigation, Operation Spicer, will be underway by the end of the month.

Barry O'Farrell falls on sword

As the Duke and Duchess were touching down in New South Wales the state's Premier was being driven out.

O'Farrell was due to greet the royal couple and baby Prince George, but that was before his shock resignation.

It comes after the Premier misled a corruption inquiry on Tuesday, with the political scandal now being referred to as "Grange Gate".

O'Farrell was expected to attend a road funding announcement with the Prime Minister in western Sydney this morning, but instead announced he would be stepping down.

The Premier gave the media ten minutes notice of the press conference where he defended what he called a "massive brain fail". No questions were taken from reporters.

He said the thank you note would be tendered to the a corruption inquiry for a $3000 bottle of wine he still cannot remember.

The handwritten thank-you card for the 1959 Penfolds Grange, from O'Farrell's birth year, appears to be signed by the Premier and his wife.

"Thank you for the kind note and wonderful wine. 1959 was a good year even if it is getting even further away! Thanks for all your support, kind regards Baz & Rosemary."

Yesterday, O'Farrell flatly denied suggestions he wrote a letter supporting Australian Water Holdings (AWH) in exchange for Liberal Party donations.

Nor did he recall receiving a bottle of vintage Grange wine, bought for $3000 by AWH and apparently couriered to his home just after the 2011 state election.

NSW Premier Barry O'Farrell resigns from his position at a press conference in Sydney, after he misled the Independent Commission against Corruption over a $3000 bottle of wine he received during his dealings with Australian Water Holdings. Photo: AAP


He was recalled to the Commission where he stood by his statement given yesterday.

"I gave my best recollection of that, which clearly was mistaken," ," O'Farrell said. "Commissioner, I certainly regret that.

In a media statement yesterday O'Farrell said "the 1959 Grange was not received by me or my wife", and that he was "holidaying in Queensland" when the bottle was delivered to his house.

Read the full press release HERE.

The note tendered to ICAC in which former NSW Premier Barry O'Farrell thanked Nick Di Girolamo for a bottle of wine he didn't recall receiving. Photo: Supplied.


This morning the Premier called it a "significant memory fail on my part" and said he will "accept the consequences".

"As someone who believes in accountability, in responsibility I accept the consequences of my action," he said. "In no way did I seek to mislead wilfully ... the Independent Commission Against Corruption."

"That would go against everything I am, but this has been a clearly significant memory fail on my part, but I accept the consequences of my actions."

"And that is that as soon as I can organise a meeting of the parliamentary party next week, I will be resigning the position and enabling a new Liberal leader to be elected."

The Prime Minister, Tony Abbott, addressed the media a short time later telling reporters that Mr O'Farrell "innocently" and "inadvertently misled" the Independent Commission against Corruption.

"I have enormous respect and admiration for Barry O’Farrell," the Prime Minister said.

He referred to the out-going Premier as a "great servant of the Liberal Party".

Prime Minister Tony Abbott held a press conference at Liverpool City Council, Sydney, Wednesday, April 16, 2014. Mr Abbott was announcing infrastructure plans for the newly announced Badgery's Creek Airport but ended up fielding many questions on the shock resignation of NSW Premier Barry O'Farrell following yesterdays ICAC revelations. Photo: AAP


Prime Minister Abbott said Mr O'Farrell texted him a short time before he resigned, and the pair had a short phone conversation.

"I said to him that he was acting from high honour, and I just said how sorry I was this wasn’t happening in four years’ time," Mr Abbott said.

"I think he’s been a very capable premier and I think he will be missed."

He said it has been a "long, long time since anyone in Australian politics has acted with this standard of honour and integrity".

Mr O'Farrell was on Tuesday quizzed before the NSW corruption watchdog about a letter he wrote to then-AWH chief executive Nick Di Girolamo in late September 2010.

He agreed it was "broadly supportive" of the company's push to secure a lucrative public-private partnership.

Premier O'Farrell with Nick Di Girolamo (right) at a business dinner. Photo: Supplied


"We can show you lots of money going into Liberal Party coffers which coincides with this letter of support. Did you know anything about that?" counsel assisting Geoffrey Watson, SC, asked Mr O'Farrell.

"No, the Liberal Party's financial code requires members of parliament to be at arm's length from fundraising," Mr O'Farrell replied.

"If your inference is that this letter was signed by me because of donations made by Australian Water Holdings then I reject it completely."

Mr Di Girolamo has told the Independent Commission against Corruption he bought Mr O'Farrell a bottle of Grange wine to express his congratulations on securing the premiership but denied using the gift to "butter Mr O'Farrell up".

The ICAC has heard the 1959 vintage bottle - aged since the year of Mr O'Farrell's birth - was delivered to his home in Roseville, on Sydney's north shore, on or around April 20, 2011.

The public inquiry has already heard testimony from Mr O'Farrell's former chief-of-staff Peter McConnell, Liberal Senator Arthur Sinodinos, three former NSW premiers and ex-Labor MP Eddie Obeid (pictured), whose family allegedly had a secret stake in AWH. Photo: AAP


But Mr O'Farrell said he never received it and that he may have been away on a family holiday to the Gold Coast for Easter when the bottle showed up.

"It's the Don Bradman of wine. Unforgettable," Mr Watson said.

"Yes. If it had been received, I don't believe I would have forgotten it," Mr O'Farrell replied.

The gift was never declared on the premier's pecuniary interests register and ICAC investigators have been unable to find a document from the courier company to show when it was dropped off.

But Mr Di Girolamo has told the inquiry he received a thank you call from the premier after sending the wine - and on Tuesday afternoon, Mr O'Farrell was shown a record of a 28-second telephone call from his mobile number to Mr Di Girolamo's, made about 9.30pm on April 20, 2011.

"I've no knowledge - I don't know about this phone call," Mr O'Farrell said.

"What I do know is if I had received a bottle of 1959 Penfolds Grange I would have known about it and I did not receive a bottle of Penfolds Grange."

Barry O'Farrell was supposed to be rubbing shoulders with royalty on Sydney harbour and basking in the glow of another major infrastructure win for NSW.

And to cap off his horrible day, he was then forced to return to the Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) to correct the record.

He later told the Commission he was sorry for giving "inaccurate" information to the corruption hearing but maintained he didn't remember the infamous bottle of red.

"It is a matter that I deeply regret as someone who has always defended this institution," he said.

Mr O'Farrell has been a vocal supporter of ICAC.

Now he's the second NSW premier to fall at its hands after Liberal Nick Greiner resigned in 1992 after being found to have acted corruptly over the Terry Metherell affair.

Photo: @theroyaleditor via Twitter


Speculation is rife on who will replace O'Farrell as Premier.

Treasurer Mike Baird and Planning Minister Brad Hazzard are likely frontrunners.

Like Prime Minister Tony Abbott, both are from northern beaches electorates in Sydney.

Mr Baird represents Manly and Mr Hazzard is in Wakehurst.

Mr Baird is the son of Bruce Baird, who was a lower house federal MP in John Howard's government.

Opposition launches stinging attack

State Opposition Leader, John Robertson, pounced on the opportunity to slam Barry O'Farrell saying the people of New South Wales have been 'rocked to the core'.

He said he expected those in politics to meet a higher standard when it comes to personal behaviour.

"Anyone who cannot meet those higher standards shouldn't be here [in politics]", Robertson said.

"It's not about a bottle of wine. Today is an insight into how the Liberal Party operates in New South Wales."