The resignation of Barry O’Farrell on Wednesday has probably set a new high-water mark for tragi-comedy in the modern political era. Less than 24 hours after an appearance at the Independent Commission Against Corruption on Tuesday at which the NSW Premier emphatically denied having received an expensive gift of wine from Nick Di Girolamo in 2011, Mr O'Farrell admitted to the existence of a hand-written note personally thanking the then chief executive of Australian Water Holdings for the $3000 bottle of Penfolds Grange. As a result of this ''massive memory fail'', Mr O’Farrell said, he would step down as Liberal leader once a meeting of the NSW parliamentary party could be organised. Mr O’Farrell has been praised by Liberal colleagues for doing the honourable thing, but given his acknowledgement of the thank you note, his position had become untenable.
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That an ICAC hearing into allegations of corrupt conduct by former NSW Labor government ministers Eddie Obeid and Ian Macdonald – which has yet to result in either being officially censured or punished – should have led to the forced resignation of a NSW Liberal premier is an irony of epic proportions. It parallels the resignation of former Liberal premier Nick Greiner, who in 1992 was found by then ICAC commissioner Ian Temby to have acted ''contrary to known and recognised standards of honesty and integrity'' in securing a government appointment for a former Liberal Party colleague – a finding later overturned by the NSW Court of Appeal. The manner of Mr O’Farrell’s downfall is far more capricious than that of Mr Greiner’s, and such that he is likely to be the subject of consideralbe public sympathy. Unfortunately, it is an all too distressing reminder of the extent to which the influence of donors and lobbyists is felt at all reaches and at all levels of public administration in NSW – regardless of which party is calling the shots at State Parliament.
It is difficult not to imagine that Mr O’Farrell was sincere in asserting on Wednesday that he had not received the wine, even though evidence was tendered that a delivery had been made to his home in April 2011. If there had been any doubt in his mind, Mr O’Farrell could easily have taken the question under notice and reported back to the hearing. Another response, less satisfactory perhaps, would have been to say that he did not recall – as many others in the ICAC witness stand have done in recent months. That the gift was not listed in the parliamentary pecuniary interests register (as is required) seems to have removed any lingering doubt from Mr O’Farrell’s mind about its existence, although the wine’s vintage and rarity would have militated against forgetfulness. That this was ''a massive memory fail'', as the Premier has put it, there can be no doubt. But given the no doubt frenetic nature of the Liberals’ first few weeks in office – when Mr O’Farrell would have been besieged from all sides by people seeking access or favours – it was perhaps an understandable one.
Not that the gift did Mr Di Girolamo any good. Operation Credo, the ICAC investigations into Australian Water Holdings, have revealed that the state government was fully apprised of Mr Di Girolamo’s business practices, and that it rebuffed his attempt to secure a $100 million contract with Sydney Water. The O’Farrell government also acted with commendable speed in cancelling three mining licenses that ICAC found were corruptly issued by minister Macdonald, and the Premier himself saw to it that two ICAC recommendations – banning success fees for lobbyists and stipulating an 18-month cooling-off period for former ministers looking to lobby government in their previous portfolio areas – were adopted.
Mr O’Farrell’s decision to resign over what many will categorise as a trivial offence may also have the unintended consequence of retraining the spotlight on Senator Arthur Sinodinos, another senior Liberal figure whose recent appearance before the ICAC hearing were also problematic. What this sorry episode really underlines, however, is the urgent need for the NSW government to legislate to ensure greater transparency around the activities of lobbyists. The farcical end to Mr O'Farrell's political career demands nothing less.
