BREAKING: PREMIER Barry O'Farrell has resigned after being caught out lying to a corruption inquiry after a handwritten note was tendered in which he thanked the head of a company linked to the Obeid family for a $3000 bottle of wine.
The thank you note that brought down a Premier.
3:46pm: The man who brought down a premier with a bottle of wine, Liberal fundraiser and Obeid associate Nick Di Girolamo, is still in the witness box at ICAC.
The inquiry into Obeid-linked company Australian Water Holdings, now in its fifth week, is expected to conclude today.
The commission will not be reflecting with satisfaction that its inquiry has claimed the scalp of a sitting premier. O'Farrell was a vocal supporter of ICAC and increased its funding to deal with its increased workload.
Counsel assisting the inquiry, Geoffrey Watson, SC, made clear in his opening address: "We have looked carefully at the activities of Mr O'Farrell and [former finance minister Greg] Mr Pearce and we have found no evidence to implicate either in any corruption."
Watson reiterated today that there is no suggestion O'Farrell engaged in corrupt conduct.
2pm:State opposition leader John Robertson gleefully took the opportunity to shift focus from Labor's own corruption scandal's, which which have unfolded with monotonous regularity since Eddie Obeid first took the stand.
“What we see today is not about a bottle of wine.
“It is about how the Liberal Party operates in government in NSW. They have allowed donors and lobbyists to reach to reach into the heart of public administration in this State.
“The government is in complete disarray.
“Three ministers have gone in the last three months,”
Former energy minister Chris Hartcher and other central coast MPs Chris Spence and Darren Webber resigned from the Liberal Party after they were implicated in the ICAC's investigations into Australian Water Holdings.
Operation Spicer and Credo are looking into whether the MPs acted corruptly, seeking payment in return for preferential treatment.
1:55pm: A good timeline here of the events that led to today's resignation of the premier.
- August 2, 2013: Reports emerge that ICAC is investigating the Obeid family's interests in Australian Water Holdings, a company that manages hundreds of millions of dollars worth of work for Sydney Water.
- August 15, 2013: Premier Barry O'Farrell denies pushing through a Sydney Water deal for AWH, saying the state is suffering ''scandal starvation'' after years of Labor corruption.
- October 28, 2013: Reports emerge that federal Assistant Treasurer Arthur Sinodinos in 2011 met Mr O'Farrell's then-chief-of-staff to lobby for a $100 million contract that AWH was hoping to win from Sydney Water. AWH was eventually awarded a 25-year contract.
- March 18, 2014: ICAC alleges AWH entered a business deal with Sydney Water and incorrectly invoiced it for tens of thousands of dollars for ''administration costs'' after donating a similar amount to the Liberal party.
- April 2, 2014: ICAC is told million-dollar payments listed in Obeid family ledgers as ''Australian Water'' transfers were, in fact, loans to family friend Nick Di Girolamo.
- April 14, 2014: Mr O'Farrell is called to give evidence before ICAC.
- April 15, 2014: Nick Di Girolamo tells the NSW corruption watchdog that when he was head of the AWH, he couriered a $3000 bottle of 1959 Penfolds Grange to Mr O'Farrell's home just after he was elected. Following Mr Di Girolamo's testimony, Mr O'Farrell denies receiving the bottle of vintage Grange wine. ''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,'' he said.
- April 16, 2014: As a thank you note from Mr O'Farrell to Mr Di Girolamo is tendered at ICAC, the Liberal leader announces he will be resigning as Premier during a surprise press conference. Mr O'Farrell calls it a ''massive memory fail'', but says he never wilfully misled the ICAC.
1:26pm: "I just want to go back to this wretched bottle of wine," John Agius, SC, asked his client O'Farrell just before he left the witness box at ICAC.
"In the early days of the new government, was it common for you to receive letters and notes and small gifts to mark the fact that you had taken government after 16 years in office [opposition]?" he asked.
"There was an avalanche of letters, of emails, and there was one or two small gifts, including smaller value bottles of wine - bottles of wine that I'm more familiar with the value of than a 1959 Grange," O'Farrell said.
"And did you have your staff check the value of the box of wine or other wine that came to your office?"
"I remember, and thankfully so does a staff member remember, that a box of wine did arrive, I think a bit later than the period we're talking about, from Hunter Valley wine interests. She checked the value of the wine and the wine was valued at $30 per bottle. It was a dozen bottles of wine, which means it was below the limit [that would require it to be disclosed on the pecuniary interests register] and was dealt with appropriately."
"What was your habit in relation to responding to messages of congratulations and the odd gift?"
"Where appropriate, responses were made. So whether, if they were email congratulations, usually the email system would be used. Letters were done in the usual way and the odd gift, there would be a note that was handed to my staff to be posted."
"A note from me?"
"A note from me where I was able to, I do try to keep up
that correspondence."
"So this is a practice you would have been aware of when you were giving evidence yesterday?"
"Yes, and I regret, as I said to counsel assisting, that having seen the note, it still does not jog my memory about a delivery around Easter 2011 or around what happened to the bottle and its contents."
1:13pm: Barry O'Farrell told ICAC on Wednesday that he rejected a characterisation of a May 27, 2011, meeting between him and Di Girolamo as "cosy".
Former finance minister Greg Pearce gave evidence last week that he was "taken aback" when he arrived at the meeting, and he felt like he was a schoolboy being summonsed to the headmaster's office. O'Farrell alluded to the circumstances in which he sacked Pearce last year as a reason why he may have given that testimony.
"That was a scheduled meeting with Minister Pearce. It was not a surprise call to anybody's office," O'Farrell said.
"He was a few minutes late because of a division in the Legislative Council but it was a meeting that took place in the usual meeting room with the usual people present for a meeting and I reject his characterisation, although as I've said elsewhere yesterday, I understand his disappointment with me about actions I took last year."
1:11pm: We're not looking to promote gambling but this list of odds from Sportsbet gives a fair idea of who the bookies see as the potential successors to O'Farrell as premier.
An early betting market for who will succeed Barry O'Farrell as premier.
1pm:
Labor MLC and former Labor primary industries Minister Steve Whan:
“I actually think that something like is unfortunate for people’s view of politicians.”
“Barry O’Farrell said he would end the circus, and clearly he hasn’t taken enough action to do that. His promises have been reduced to nothing.”
“I would never seek to diminish the disappointment (of revelations about Labor party member’s in previous ICAC hearings).
“But any change the Liberals make to their leadership does not change the fact the Coaliton has not lived up to expectations of a better standard of government.”
12:53pm: Here's more of the exchange between counsel and O'Farrell at ICAC earlier today.
Watson asked O'Farrell about a phone call made to Nick Di Girolamo at 9.30pm on April 20, 2011 - the day the Grange was delivered to O'Farrell's then home at Roseville.
He showed O'Farrell records from the courier company that delivered the wine.
"It seems from records that it was left on the porch, probably left in the evening of 20 April by the looks of it, which means there's now a very good chance that the call that was made at 9.30pm that evening must have been a thank you call, don't you agree?" Watson said.
"I stand by the evidence I gave yesterday, Mr Watson, which is I don't know about that call. I now accept that my recollection yesterday when I said that I had no memory of receiving such a bottle of wine is mistaken, but Mr Watson my frustration today is having seen the note, having seen what would on any other occasion would have been a very good memory jog, that has not done the case," O'Farrell replied.
"I would make the point that this happened within two and a half weeks or so of coming to office. I said yesterday in response to a question from my counsel that that's an interesting and extraordinary circumstance. You come out of a campaign, into government. For almost a week the deputy premier and I were ministers for all of NSW, we had to put together a ministry, we had to deal with the volume of work that victory brings... we had to deal with the administrative matters of government, we had some issues within my family where my father-in-law passed away at that time after a car accident, having fallen ill on election night.
"All of those issues, but none of that retracts from the fact that I am sorry, Commissioner, that information that I gave to this commission yesterday has proven to be inaccurate. It is a matter that I deeply regret, as someone who has always defended this institution."
12:39pm: Plans for who will greet the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge at Sydney Airport at 2.35pm remain in disarray.
A spokeswoman from the NSW Department of Premier and Cabinet has told Fairfax Media that no decision has been made on who will represent the NSW Government following Mr O'Farrell's shock resignation this morning.
"We will know when everyone else does, and that is likely to only be made clear at the airport this afternoon," she said.
Mr O'Farrell and his wife Rosemary were scheduled to join Governor General Sir Peter Cosgrove and his wife Her Excellency Lady Cosgrove, along with NSW governor Marie Bashire and Sir Nicholas Sheadie, Prime Minister Tony Abbott and wife Margie, and Ian Watt, secretary of the Prime Minister's Department on the tarmac to greet the royal couple on their first official tour of Australia.
Mr O'Farrell was also due to meet the couple at the Sydney Opera House at 3.10pm to attend a welcome reception he was co-hosting with the NSW Governor. It remains unclear who will host in his absence.
12:36pm: Counsel assisting ICAC, Geoffrey Watson, SC, put to O'Farrell the question on everyone's lips: "Have you got any idea what could have happened to the wine?"
"No," a brusque O'Farrell replied.
"It would be a very unusual bottle to open over a spag bol on a Friday night, you'd agree," Watson pressed.
"I cannot speculate," O'Farrell replied. "If my mistaken recollection yesterday, which I gave in good faith believing it was an accurate recollection... I look at this today and it still does not jog a recollection about either a bottle of wine on a porch, because I understand now the evidence is that it was left on the porch, or what happened to that bottle of wine."
12:35pm: O'Farrell told ICAC in his brief stint in the box that "as a strong supporter of this Commission, I've always urged people to come forward fearlessly, frankly and give honest evidence, and that's what I believed I was doing yesterday".
"But the regret for me, counsel, is having seen the letter, having seen the envelope, it still does not spark a recollection.
"Can I just have 60 seconds more? When the issue around Easter was raised with me by your counsel, because you'd narrowed down your dates, I looked at my diary and, you know, if you'd asked me a day or two before what I'd done in Easter 2011 I might well have remembered that we'd spent it on the Gold Coast.
"When I saw the written diary I remembered a number of things about that holiday, not the least being that my eldest son told me on that occasion that his career post-school would be the Army, which thankfully he's pursuing.
"I look at this note, I read the note, I accept that is is in my handwriting and I still have no recollection about the receipt of the gift or the bottle of wine."
12:28pm: This exchange from Barry O'Farrell's second appearance at ICAC today sums up much of the past 24 hours.
Watson: Mr O'Farrell, I'll show you the originals of the documents that were recovered overnight and I'll just ask you to have a look at them and just confirm it is your handwriting. Is that right?
O'Farrell: Yes.
Watson: Well Mr O'Farrell, it's in a pretty sad position that we are in now. I've got to ask you: why should the people of NSW, why should they not think that you didn't give honest evidence yesterday, Mr O'Farrell?
O'Farrell: Well I certainly tried to give accurate evidence to the best of my recollection. Can I say, counsel, that in the days since I've been back from China when this matter was first raised with me by my counsel, it went from boxes of wine, to box of wine, to yesterday a bottle of wine. It went from a date that was allegedly in June, to May, then April, back to May, then yesterday to the 20th of April. I gave this matter thought. I considered what I'd been doing and I gave yesterday my best recollection of that which clearly was mistaken and Commissioner, I certainly regret that.
12:22pm: The race to replace Barry O'Farrell is on in earnest.
Could NSW Treasurer Mike Baird (pictured left last week in Wellington with mayor, Rod Buhr and Member for Orange Andrew Gee) be the next party leader?
Liberal Party sources have told the SMH State political editor Sean Nicholls the numbers remain "very fluid".
At this early stage, Treasurer Mike Baird is being touted as the leading contender. A member of the left faction, Baird also enjoys the support of many in the right thanks to his position on privatisation of public assets.
The question is whether Transport Minister Gladys Berejiklian will run. Ms Berejiklian has always been touted as O'Farrell's favoured successor. It is understood she has told colleagues she has yet to make up her mind.
As a long time warrior of the left, there is a view the right could actively seek to destabilise her premiership.
Barry O'Farrell sent this letter to his colleagues this morning.
12:13pm: O'Farrell says the evidence at ICAC still hasn't jogged his memory about receiving the wine.
"I stand by the evidence I gave yesterday," he says.
O'Farrell adds he has no memory of a phone call he made to Nick Di Girolamo around 9.30pm on April 20, 2011 - the day the Grange was delivered to his then home at Roseville.
12:12pm: Barry O'Farrell is back in the box at ICAC.
Watson asks why should the people of NSW should believe he gave honest evidence yesterday.
"I gave my best recollection of that, which clearly was mistaken.
Commissioner, I certainly regret that," O'Farrell says.
12:12pm: As Barry O'Farrell prepares to once again begin giving evidence at ICAC, his predecessor in the job, Labor's Kristina Keneally, has spoken to 2UE radio.
In the interview, Ms Keneally, who also appeared at ICAC during the AWH inquiry, said:
- She had been in a meeting and only just found out about the resignation;
- Feels sorry for the people of NSW;
- Says in her experience she can't imagine how you would forget such a thing, but will say when you are premier it is a very hectic time;
- Says she takes no pleasure or joy in hearing about BOF's resignation.
Background
Mr O'Farrell's resignation due to an ICAC inquiry is not the first of a sitting Liberal premier.
Nick Greiner resigned as his position as premier following a previous ICAC inquiry, in 1992, into the "Terry Metherell Affair".
Mr Greiner and then Environment Minister Tim Moore had offered Mr Metherell, a Liberal-turned-independent MP,an executive position in the Environmental Protection Authority.
Nick Greiner resigned from his position as premier following a previous ICAC inquiry, in 1002, into the "Terry Metherell Affair"
lf he accepted the position, Mr Metherell would have been forced to resign his parliamentary seat, which the Liberal Party expected would win at the subsequent by-election.
It was found Mr Metherell had applied for the position after the closing date and he was appointed within hours of applying, a move later deemed to be illegal.
Mr Greiner was accused of misleading the parliament and, under pressure, he referred the matter to ICAC.
ICAC commissioner Ian Temby found Mr Greiner had not acted criminally and had not set out to be corrupt but he would be viewed as "conducting himself contrary to known and recognised standards of honesty and integrity" by a notional jury.
Mr Greiner successfully appealed the ruling, arguing he was only "technically corrupt".
Before the Appeal Court's decision, Mr Greiner resigned, and was succeeded by John Fahey.
Click on the above image to see photos of the former Premier from The Land's archives.
11:51am: 9.17am. That's what time ICAC learned of the existence of a handwritten note from Barry O'Farrell thanking Nick Di Girolamo for the 1959 wine.
An irate counsel assisting the inquiry, Geoffrey Watson, SC, has this morning defended ICAC against the suggestion that it was "sitting on" the thank you card from O'Farrell.
The smoking gun, instead, came from Mr Di Girolamo.
"I just want to correct something. I've been informed while I've been sitting here that there is some suggestion being made that ICAC had access to that information relating to Mr O'Farrell, the card, and sat on it, held it back until Mr O'Farrell gave his evidence," Watson said.
"If it is being said, it's false, it shouldn't be said and quite frankly - and I think I probably speak on behalf of everybody at ICAC - I resent it if it is being said.
"I can tell whoever wants to know in the world ICAC acquired the information at 9.17am this morning."
Di Girolamo then adds: "I would resent that too, commissioner."
Commissioner Megan Latham says: "I can also verify that the email to ICAC came onto my desk at 9.20am this morning and that it was sent through partly I think from Mr Alexis [Mr Di Girolamo's barrister, Todd Alexis, SC] to Mr Watson as I understand it at that time and prior to that time no one had any knowledge that that document even existed."
11:31am: Tributes have started to flow for Barry O'Farrell's three years in office as NSW Premier.
The Tourism & Transport Forum was one of the first bodies to move, sending out a press release saying "Sydney and New South Wales have moved forward and will continue to do so thanks to the hard work of Barry O’Farrell over the past three years".
TTF Chief Executive Ken Morrison said Mr O’Farrell had had a very positive influence.
“Barry O’Farrell has worked tirelessly over the past three years to improve Sydney’s productivity and liveability through investment in transport and other infrastructure and we are surprised and saddened to see him go,” Mr Morrison said.
11:30am:In recent weeks the Greens had been pushing for answers on whether Mr O'Farrell had made any farm visits in his time as Premier.
For more click here
11:15am: Mr O'Farrell this morning sent a text message to the Prime Minister asking for him to call. Mr Abbott revealed what happened at a press conference about Badgerys Creek.
"He texted me that I should call him and by the time I saw the text, I think he was about to go in and make his statement and we had a brief conversation and I said to him that he was acting from high honour here and I just said how sorry I was that this wasn't happening in three or four years time because Barry is a man of honour," Mr Abbott said.
"He is a man of integrity. He is a very decent man and I think he has been a very capable Premier over the last three years. I think he will be missed."
He also expressed confidence that Mr O'Farrell inadvertently misled ICAC.
"This is the thing, if you're in public life, you meet lots of people, from time to time people give you things," Mr Abbott said.
"They might give you ties or pens or a bottle of wine, and sure, a bottle of Grange is pretty special, no doubt about that. Given that premiers and other senior politicians have very crowded busy lives, I don't think it is reasonable to expect everything from some years ago to be front of mind.
11.08am
THE Nationals have been thus far quiet about any possible ramifications of the resignation of Premier Barry O'Farrell for Coalition voters in rural NSW.
The Land has contacted offices of Deputy Premier Andrew Stoner, Deputy Leader of the Nationals Adrian Piccoli, Primary Industries Minister Katrina Hodgkinson and Minister for Western NSW Kevin Humphries, but has yet to receive any response.
The Nats State chairman Niall Blair said he would not be making any comment on the resignation.
11:02am: ICAC has just confirmed that Barry O'Farrell will return to the witness box at 12pm today. We will be live blogging throughout.
11:02am: We now have the full excerpt of Prime Minister Tony Abbott's press conference this morning in Sydney:
"I have known Barry for two decades. He has been a friend of mine throughout that time. He has been a great servant of the Liberal Party, a great servant of the people of NSW and of Australia. He has constantly worked to do the right thing by the people of NSW and we were together as recently as last Friday in China winning trade and jobs for our country and our State. Obviously, as we now know, he innocently, inadvertently misled ICAC yesterday and he has taken the utterly honourable step of resigning as Premier. This is an honour and an integrity at a very high level. We are seeing an act of integrity, an act of honour, the like of which we have rarely seen in Australian politics. I admire him tremendously for this, although I deeply regret the necessity for it.
Question: Do you trust this Government, the State Government, which is proving to be corrupt, to deliver your major infrastructure?
Abbott: That, if I may say so, is an entirely unjustified smear. Let me not mince my words, an entirely unjustified smear and frankly, I think you should withdraw that and apologise. There is no evidence whatsoever for that. Can you please tell me what your evidence for that is?
Question: He specifically said yesterday if he was delivered a bottle of that nature, he would remember it. Today a thank you note has uncovered and he resigned. I think voters would be sceptical about the way this has unfolded.
Abbott: Without wanting to get into an argument with the media, what you have just said is very different from the accusation, the statement that you earlier made and we need to have decent standards in this country. We need to have decent standards from the media, if I may say so, as well as decent standards from politicians.
11:06am: Among all the more serious ramifications of today's dramatic developments is the question, who will greet the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge today?
SMH royal reporter Daisy Dumas writes:
The Premier was due to be part of the Duke and Duchess and Prince George of Cambridge's welcome committee at Kingsford Smith Airport this afternoon.
His absence in the line of dignitaries, including the Governor General, Peter Cosgrove, Prime Minister Tony Abbott and Governor of NSW, Marie Bashir, will be notable - but even starker at the official welcome reception at the Sydney Opera House that he was due to host with the NSW Governor.
There, the Premier was scheduled to give a speech to the Duke and Duchess and 400 guests. His Royal Highness is also set to say some words at the reception. The Premier was then in line to farewell the couple from Bennelong Point as they make their way to Admiralty House.
Protocol suggests that Deputy Premier Andrew Stoner may cover Mr O'Farrell's duties today. It is not, by any stretch of the imagination, an average day to step into the boss's shoes.
10:49am: For those who need a bit of background about what brought Mr O'Farrell to take the dramatic step of resigning as Premier, here an excerpt from the SMH's report of yesterday's proceedings at ICAC.
"Barry O'Farrell has categorically denied at a corruption inquiry that he received a $3000 bottle of wine from the head of the water company linked to the Obeid family.
"In a tense stint in the Independent Commission Against Corruption witness box, the Premier insisted he also could not recall a telephone conversation with the businessman who claimed he sent the lavish gift.
"The commission heard explosive evidence on Tuesday that the then chief executive of Obeid-linked infrastructure company Australian Water Holdings, Nick Di Girolamo, sent Mr O'Farrell the $2978 bottle of 1959 Penfolds Grange Hermitage around April 20, 2011."
10:42am: Tony Abbott has told a press conference called to discuss the Badgerys Creek airport:
"I have enormous respect and admiration for Barry O'Farrell...
"He's been a great servant on the Liberal party and the people of NSW...
"He has constantly worked to do the right thing by the people of NSW...
"He has taken the utterly honourable step of resigning as premier."
We'll update you with the full text of that press conference shortly.
10:36am: Counsel assisting ICAC, Geoffrey Watson, SC, brandished the smoking gun shortly after 10am on Wednesday.
Here's what he told the inquiry:
"There's been a pretty substantial development on a significant matter overnight. I need to tender three pages. They're copies of two documents.
"One is an envelope addressed in we believe the handwriting of Mr O'Farrell... to Mr and Mrs Di Girolamo.
"The second page is a copy of the front of a card emanating from the NSW Parliament.
"The third is a note we believe in the handwriting of Mr O'Farrell and on the card issued from the office of the Premier of NSW thanking Mr and Mrs Di Girolamo for their gift, being a bottle of wonderful wine from 1959."
10:31am: Here's the text of Barry O'Farrell's statement to the press this morning. He refused to take any questions.
"I’ve been advised overnight that this morning at ICAC a thank you note from me in relation to the bottle of wine will be presented. I still can’t recall the receipt of a gift of a bottle of 1959 Grange, I can’t explain what happened to that bottle of wine. But I do accept that there is a thank you note signed by me and as someone who believes in accountability, in responsibility, I accept the consequences of my actions.
"The evidence I gave to the independent commission against corruption yesterday was evidence to the best of my knowledge. I believe it to be truthful and as I said yesterday it's important that citizens deal with police, deal with the courts and deal with watchdogs like ICAC in a truthful fashion.
"In no way did I seek to mislead, wilfully or otherwise, the Independent Commission Against Corruption. But this has clearly been a significant memory fail on my part, albeit within weeks of coming to office, but I accept the consequences of my actions. And that is that as soon as I can organise a meeting of the parliamentary Liberal party for next week I will be resigning the position and enabling a new Liberal leader to be elected, someone who will then become the Premier of NSW.
"Whilst I’m sure you have questions, I don’t think this is the time for those questions to be dealt with. There will be other occasions for those questions to be dealt with. But what’s important here is that again I’m seeking to support the process of the Independent Commission Against Corruption, a body that I’ve always supported throughout my career. I’ve accepted that I’ve had a massive memory fail, I still can’t explain either the arrival of a gift that I have no recollection of or its absence, which I certainly still can’t fathom.
"But I accept the consequences. In an orderly way, a new leader will be elected to take on the position of Premier of NSW."
BREAKING: PREMIER Barry O'Farrell has resigned after being caught out lying to a corruption inquiry after a handwritten note was tendered in which he thanked the head of a company linked to the Obeid family for a $3000 bottle of wine.
Mr O'Farrell announced his resignation at a press conference at 10am this morning.
The Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) was presented evidence of a thank you card he sent Nick Di Girolamo for a $3000 bottle of wine, something Mr O'Farrell had previously denied receiving.
"I still can't explain either the arrival of a gift that I have no recollection of or it's, eh, absence which I certainly still can't fathom," Mr O'Farrell said.
"But I accept consequences and in an orderly way a new Liberal leader will be elected to take up the position of Premier of NSW."
Mr O'Farrell did not take any questions from the media.
More to come