Barry O'Farrell to resign as NSW Premier

[Stumpy Pete]

I think the content of the question is irrelevant.

It generally isn't a good look for an interviewee to go after the questioner, remember this interview?:


All Abbott needed to do was refute her claim and move on. There wasn't any need to start throwing questions back at her.

Gotta disagree - to call a Government corrupt based on the actions of one man (whose actions were deemed not to be corrupt by the counsel assisting the inquiry) is exactly what Abbott says it was - a smear. And he has every right to ask her on what basis she is making the accusation. We have fact checkers all over the media, parsing every word coming out a politician's mouths. Good on the PM for applying the same standards to the media.

Regards

S. Pete

 

[Contra Mundum]

LOL. Old Irish Eddie.

Don't be too harsh

 

[Contra Mundum]

LOL. Old Irish Eddie.

Don't be too harsh I was typing in the tram

 

[Contra Mundum]

I think the lesson is to not lie under oath. As others have said it's probably a shame for the good people of NSW. Seemed a glimmer of hope that the state might get its house in order in Baz.

Anyway, insert something here about stones and glass houses. Keep digging Tone, eventually the hole will be so wide and deep that you'll fall in too.

Yeh I agree - I think all those years in opposition made him a steady as she goes kind of guy- a big loss

 

[AM]

At least unlike Sinodinus he had the cojones to resign.

 

[moses]

FUCCKKK - say what you like about O'Farell but he was a good administrator of his State - what ******* clowns advise these people to make these unequivoval statements in the witness box!! resigning over a bottle of wine? It's not like its a mineral licence to produce rivers of gold or anything

Im pretty sure it is the lying to ICAC rather then the wine, but yeah is $3000 really that much to destroy your reputation and career.

 

[clogged]

Gotta disagree - to call a Government corrupt based on the actions of one man (whose actions were deemed not to be corrupt by the counsel assisting the inquiry) is exactly what Abbott says it was - a smear. And he has every right to ask her on what basis she is making the accusation. We have fact checkers all over the media, parsing every word coming out a politician's mouths. Good on the PM for applying the same standards to the media.

Would be like calling a government illegitimate would it not?

 

[Scorpio]

I wouldn't be surprised if there is a significant push for O'Farrell to be re-endorsed as party leader next week. You can already see the narrative emerging from some LNP members that the wine business was a simple mistake and what O'Farrell did by resigning was "honourable".

 

[Contra Mundum]

Im pretty sure it is the lying to ICAC rather then the wine, but yeah is $3000 really that much to destroy your reputation and career.

He is a moderate too - he is not one of those David Smtih Opus Dei robots that made them unelectable all those years

 

[Hank Scorpion]

I wouldn't be surprised if there is a significant push for O'Farrell to be re-endorsed as party leader next week. You can already see the narrative emerging from some LNP members that the wine business was a simple mistake and what O'Farrell did by resigning was "honourable".

Not a good move imo.

I didn't mind O"Farrell, he seemed the most popular state leader going around, and that would generally say something about his competence.

Bringing him back after this debacle however? Not a chance, a poor move. It's not good policy to backflip on major political moves. If the grounds for his resignation was "memory failure" how can he return? Would he explain that he didn't have a memory failure, or that he overreacted by resigning.

Imagine the implications if he has resigned, returned, had more revelations revealed, and was forced to resign again later.

Besides, from the noises I'm hearing, the NSW Libs appear to have an abundance of talent.

 

[Docker Clint]

One of the main reason I despise the Libs is they smash Labor about their dodgy doings but it's fine for them to do the same. This born to rule mentality is offensive.

 

[Power Raid]

My gut feel is he did receive the wine as he is too specific in his denial.

If I was deny the allegation I would have said "I did not receive the bottle of wine", or "I did not receive the bottle of grange".

I would not have said "I did not receive the bottle of 1959 Grange".

So what? He received a 1958 or 1960? Just a little too tricky I would suggest.

 

[Pessimistic]

What it shows is why the Victorian Liberal party was so scared of setting up an effective version of the ICAC that they bastardised it so much that it can't do anything.

When you look at how many political careers have been rightly killed off by the ICAC it just makes you realise how corrupt the rest of them around the country are.

But arent the NSW ones the worlds best practice ?

As i see it thers two explainations

1 o farrell is balls deep in it all

2 if hes that rare thing, an honest NSW pollie, they gave him the wine and kept the thankyou note as something to supply subtle blacmail were o farrell ever to be that even rarer thing, a pollie trying to clean out the trash

 

[geelong_boy]

To be honest I didn't mind O'Farrell. I mean I definitely did not agree with all of his policies but I did agree with some of them and he seemed like a pretty good guy in the Malcolm Turnbull mold.

I agree re O'Farrell. Mind you, as a Victorian, I haven't really followed NSW politics so closely. One thing I will commend him on was his speech reacting to Brandis' "people have a right to be bigots" furore. Just made me think, "Well said sir".

 

[Slax]

But arent the NSW ones the worlds best practice ?

As i see it thers two explainations

1 o farrell is balls deep in it all

2 if hes that rare thing, an honest NSW pollie, they gave him the wine and kept the thankyou note as something to supply subtle blacmail were o farrell ever to be that even rarer thing, a pollie trying to clean out the trash

My money is on the first option

 

[noddy]

My money is on the first option

Well i hope not would just about be the final straw for the voters of NSW especially after Sinodinus has become caught up in this quagmire.

 

[ClokesShankedIt]

ICAC is doing a very nice job of clearing out the rats. Hopefully this impacts on Sinodinous and he can't come back.

 

[romeoh]

Quite liked him myself there are so few likeable pollies these days so a bit sorry. That said, he did the wrong thing in accepting it and perhaps there was more?
Can't really understand how he thought the denial would fly though because there is a fair bit of evidence-phone call, note-didn't he realize? Weird.
Tone's gushing support used too many words.

 

[Slax]

ICAC is doing a very nice job of clearing out the rats. Hopefully this impacts on Sinodinous and he can't come back.

That's why we need a proper ICAC in Victoria the rats in politics here, both state and local are unbelievable.

 

[tandino]

Well, that escalated quickly.

I can't understand how a case can be made for him staying on as Premier, regardless of what gift he actually accepted.

It's not actually about a bottle of wine at all.

 

[ClokesShankedIt]

That's why we need a proper ICAC in Victoria the rats in politics here, both state and local are unbelievable.

Has anyone bailed up O'Farrell and asked, "Do you actually believe someone gives you a 3k bottle of win with no strings attached? Do you actually expect the public to believe this?"

 

[Nankervis brothers]

Abbott in his press conference on this matter was just 'grade A' pathetic.

O'Farrell seems a decent bloke, but truth is we now have two senior Liberal figures who have trashed their careers for the kind of behaviour Abbott would view as unacceptable in the Labor Party. But when taken to task on this similarly problematic abuse of title and power taking place in his own Party, Abbott grandly spits the dummy.

Fact is he has spent so long having smoke blown up his ass by News Corp that he views any criticism whatsoever with confusion and amazement. His bizarre comments about the ABC having to cheer lead rather than independently report and analyse are testament to this. Never before has a PM and his Party performed so badly while having so little criticism directed against them. The only thing keeping him in the race currently is the daily love-fest afforded him by his ideologues at News, whose reach is so crazily large.

And while I'm at it, nice to finally see in broad day light the same machinations exposed in NSW Liberal Party that are constantly banged on about in relation to the ALP. At least the ALP is reforming. Same can't be said about NSW Liberal Party.

An aside - Abbott calling the journalist in question 'madam'. Is he just performing this s**t, or is he actually a man of the 50s? I mean who the * calls a woman 'madam' in this day and age? And if he is performing some archaic character, why? What demographic is he trying to appeal to? People in their 80s? I'm sure they find 'madam' endearing, but they aren't the ones who will win him an election.

 

[NSWCROW]

As you can imagine , those at 2GB took this really well.......
NSW Opposition leader John Robertson interviewed by Glen Wheeler

http://www.2gb.com/article/barry-o’farrell-resigns

 

[romeoh]

Abbott in his press conference on this matter was just 'grade A' pathetic.

O'Farrell seems a decent bloke, but truth is we now have two senior Liberal figures who have trashed their careers for the kind of behaviour Abbott would view as unacceptable in the Labor Party. But when taken to task on this similarly problematic abuse of title and power taking place in his own Party, Abbott grandly spits the dummy.

Fact is he has spent so long having smoke blown up his ass by News Corp that he views any criticism whatsoever with confusion and amazement. His bizarre comments about the ABC having to cheer lead rather than independently report and analyse are testament to this. Never before has a PM and his Party performed so badly while having so little criticism directed against them. The only thing keeping him in the race currently is the daily love-fest afforded him by his ideologues at News, whose reach is so crazily large.

And while I'm at it, nice to finally see in broad day light the same machinations exposed in NSW Liberal Party that are constantly banged on about in relation to the ALP. At least the ALP is reforming. Same can't be said about NSW Liberal Party.

An aside - Abbott calling the journalist in question 'madam'. Is he just performing this s**t, or is he actually a man of the 50s? I mean who the **** calls a woman 'madam' in this day and age? And if he is performing some archaic character, why? What demographic is he trying to appeal to? People in their 80s? I'm sure they find 'madam' endearing, but they aren't the ones who will win him an election.

He is in the 50's. No doubt. Would have been very happy hanging out with Bob Santamaria.

 

[Nankervis brothers]

He is in the 50's. No doubt. Would have been very happy hanging out with Bob Santamaria.

On social issues, at very least, I think you are right. There is a great deal of truth in the idea that he is the first DLP PM of Australia. And that is embarrassing for all of us.