NSW Premier Barry O’Farrell has resigned, following his appearance at the Independent Commission Against Corruption yesterday.
Whilst yesterday O’Farrell denied having received a $3000 bottle of wine from Australian Water Holdings boss Nick Di Girolamo, today it has been revealed that he sent a thank you card to Di Girolamo for the gift. The premier promptly resigned following this embarrassing incident.
The courier who delivered the $2,000 bottle of wine to Barry O’Farrell’s home confirmed its arrival yesterday during the ICAC examination yesterday. The delivery took place on Good Friday last year, so Mr O’Farrell had originally said that he could have been away at the time of its arrival.
‘I will be resigning the position and enabling a new Liberal leader to be elected,’ said Mr O’Farrell. ‘Someone who will then become the Premier of New South Wales.’
‘I can’t explain the arrival of a gift that I have no recollection of, or its absence, which I still can’t fathom,’ said Barry O’Farrell, who has described the missing bottle of wine as a ‘significant memory fail on my part.’
