Corruption in the Liberal Party

[Calliope]

The media should have taken off the gloves with this and the last NSW Government years ago (admittedly the Sydney Morning Herald did their best and was hampered by our draconian defamation laws).

The biggest story here is the waste of a bottle of 1959 Penfolds Grange. Talk about casting pearls before swine.
Here we have a man who is practically a non-drinker, who would have absolutely no appreciation of a good wine.

When i was a boy we had a saying;

"He wouldn't know his ar$ehole from a can of black axle grease".

That would fit B.O'F.

 

[SirRumpole]

The biggest story here is the waste of a bottle of 1959 Penfolds Grange. Talk about casting pearls before swine.
Here we have a man who is practically a non-drinker, who would have absolutely no appreciation of a good wine.

When i was a boy we had a saying;

"He wouldn't know his ar$ehole from a can of black axle grease".

That would fit B.O'F.

Obviously you can't be a good Liberal without being a wine snob as well.

Wasn't there a thread somewhere about wine snobs being w@nkers ?

 

[banco]

The biggest story here is the waste of a bottle of 1959 Penfolds Grange. Talk about casting pearls before swine.
Here we have a man who is practically a non-drinker, who would have absolutely no appreciation of a good wine.

When i was a boy we had a saying;

"He wouldn't know his ar$ehole from a can of black axle grease".

That would fit B.O'F.

I doubt most people could tell the difference between a good $50 bottle of red and the 1959 Grange.

 

[noco]

It is great to to see you socialist lefties with a smile on your faces at last......you certainly haven't had much to smile about lately.

$3000 BOTTLE OF WINE.......GOTCHA

I do hope Bill Shorten will do the right thing and resign if he is caught up in the Royal commission into union corruption,

 

[trainspotter]

I doubt most people could tell the difference between a good $50 bottle of red and the 1959 Grange.

Quite easily ... you are buying the Grange for the wank factor and not the wine inside the bottle. It would taste like Condies crystals mixed with vinegar. I will have the Henschke Euphonium 2004 for the $50 bottle thanks

 

[Calliope]

Quite easily ... you are buying the Grange for the wank factor and not the wine inside the bottle. It would taste like Condies crystals mixed with vinegar. I will have the Henschke Euphonium 2004 for the $50 bottle thanks

Sirumpy thinks that if you appreciate a good wine you must be a Liberal snob.

Obviously you can't be a good Liberal without being a wine snob as well

 

[DB008]

Lie. Got caught. Resigned.

Someone write this down and hand it to Craig Thompson on how its done.

 

[drsmith]

If BOF took the following advice, he may not have been such a bad day.

I have certain rules when it comes to receiving gifts of Penfold’s Grange Hermitage. If it’s not a ‘55 I just won’t sign for it. Take it away. Give it to the dog. Get it out of my sight.

http://blogs.theaustralian.news.com...australian/comments/obeiditis_the_toll_rises/

No umbrella though for Barry.

 

[sydboy007]

It is great to to see you socialist lefties with a smile on your faces at last......you certainly haven't had much to smile about lately.

$3000 BOTTLE OF WINE.......GOTCHA

I do hope Bill Shorten will do the right thing and resign if he is caught up in the Royal commission into union corruption,

TBH I think Sinodinos has far more to answer for than BOF.

Is it me or does politics have an adverse effect on memory?

 

[overhang]

What a ruckus NSW are in, they vote the corrupt mob out and now this. It is great however to see these memory lapses bite someone in the backside, too often these commissions result in the defense just being that they can't recall. Murdoch hardly had another answer, George Pell should pray for his memory back and I'm betting Kevin 07 might be forgetful too, the hard hat wearing union officials will probably have the early signs of Alzheimer's as well.

 

[drsmith]

the hard hat wearing union officials will probably have the early signs of Alzheimer's as well.

That I suspect is ultimately where the greatest volume of political blood will be shed.

From a non-partisan standpoint it's the right thing that's happened to BOF. It might encourage a broader lifting of the game from the rest, for a while at least.

 

[McLovin]

You know I had this though in the back of my mind yesterday that BOF was actually pretty tired of the job and had found a convenient way out.

This isn't what you expect from a guy who has just thrown a hand grenade on his own career.

http://www.smh.com.au/nsw/one-day-on-barry-ofarrell-bounces-back-20140417-36tbv.html

 

[trainspotter]

Maybe he drank the '59 Grange which is why he cannot recall ever receiving it?

‘‘Prime Minister, do you trust this government, the state government, which is proving to be corrupt, to deliver your major infrastructure plans?’’

The question was perhaps poorly worded as no state Liberal has been found corrupt.

But Mr Abbott was not in a forgiving mood as he tried to turn his prime ministerial authority back on Berkovic.
‘‘That, if I may say so, is an entirely unjustified smear,’’ Mr Abbott said.
‘‘Let me not mince my words, madam. An entirely unjustified smear, and frankly I think you should withdraw that. There is no evidence whatsoever for that.’’
He then asked Berkovic, a former press gallery journalist of the year for her coverage of the Rudd government’s home insulation scheme, what her evidence was.
Another journalist tried to restore normal press conference service by asking Mr Abbott if he would remember receiving a bottle of wine from his birth year.
But Mr Abbott would not be deterred. Waving off the interruption, he returned to Berkovic.
‘‘Please, please, I’ve asked what the evidence of that statement was and none has been forthcoming,’’ he said, holding up his hands.

Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/federal-polit...t-standards-20140416-zqvkp.html#ixzz2z6ZyiJxz

What's that ? No state Liberal has been found corrupt ? Pshaw you say !

 

[banco]

That I suspect is ultimately where the greatest volume of political blood will be shed.

From a non-partisan standpoint it's the right thing that's happened to BOF. It might encourage a broader lifting of the game from the rest, for a while at least.

Yes I suspect it will make even the dumbest, most craven politician in NSW much more careful about dealings with sleazy lobbyists.

 

[Julia]

You know I had this though in the back of my mind yesterday that BOF was actually pretty tired of the job and had found a convenient way out.

This isn't what you expect from a guy who has just thrown a hand grenade on his own career.

http://www.smh.com.au/nsw/one-day-on-barry-ofarrell-bounces-back-20140417-36tbv.html

Wouldn't it be much simpler, if he had had enough, to just trot out the ubiquitous "I'm resigning to spend more time with my family and pursue other long held interests......."?

Would he really besmirch his own integrity intentionally? I don't know. Don't think most people would.

He may have just been lazy/caught up in all the celebratory stuff of becoming Premier etc where he dashed off notes to various people who sent congratulatory gifts. I don't think I'd remember whether I'd written a thank you note to everyone several years ago.

But there's no excuse for failing to register the gift. If he'd done that none of this would have happened.

 

[SirRumpole]

I don't think I'd remember whether I'd written a thank you note to everyone several years ago.

In that case he should have said "I don't recall receiving the gift" . He may still have looked bad, but he could have ridden it out and he would not have told a falsehood to ICAC.

But there's no excuse for failing to register the gift. If he'd done that none of this would have happened.

Indeed so. Maybe he just regarded it as a gift from one friend to another, but that doesn't square with what he said about not knowing Geronimo(!) very well.

Something smells fishy that maybe BOF wants to keep from getting out, so he got out himself.

 

[SirRumpole]

Mike Baird is the NSW Liberal Premier

A clone of Tony Abbott by the looks of it

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-04-17/mike-baird-who-is-new-nsw-premier/5397336

A devout Christian, a conservative, a former high-flying banker - Mike Baird has been at the helm of the state's finances for the past three years.

The state's new premier has a lot in common with Prime Minister Tony Abbott.

They share an electorate, they have surfed together, and they are Christian conservatives.

In his maiden speech in the NSW Parliament on May 29, 2007, Mr Baird declared: "My faith will ground me, shape me and provide my motivation to serve until my time here is done."

While he was an international banker, his religious calling almost saw him become a minister.

But politics was in his blood. His father Bruce Baird was a state MP and minister before serving as a federal government minister under John Howard.

His father says he thought his son would one day become a religious minister.

"He was at theological college in Canada and I thought his path was set on going in that direction," he said.

"He was there for a year and then he thought he should go into politics."

Today Mr Baird senior said he tried to talk his son out of a career in politics, but he was very proud of what he had achieved.

But , darker matters may lie beneath the surface

But the NSW Greens have raised questions about Mr Baird's relationship with Nick Di Girolamo, the executive of Australian Water Holdings whose gift of a 1951 bottle of Grange precipitated the chain of events which led to Mr O'Farrell's shock resignation.

Mr Baird appointed Mr Di Girolamo to the board of the State Water Corporation in June 2012.

Documents obtained by Greens MP John Kaye show Mr Di Girolamo was ranked lowly when interviewed for another board position at the Sydney Ports Corporation.

Mr Di Girolamo was dismissed as not having relevant industry experience.

Dr Kaye claims Mr Di Girolamo was equally unsuited for the State Water Corporation board.

Has he received any gifts from Di Girolamo ?

 

[noco]

Indeed so. Maybe he just regarded it as a gift from one friend to another, but that doesn't square with what he said about not knowing Geronimo(!) very well.

Something smells fishy that maybe BOF wants to keep from getting out, so he got out himself.

Why are you lefties and some crumby media riding this bottle of wine to the death and exaggerating corruption in the Liberal party...there has been no corruption ......that fellow Geronimo (!), as you call him, did not get what he wanted...... There is no evidence of any wrong doing with either O'Farrell and Sinodinos, so why blow up a situation that does not exist.

It would appear ICAC have exceeded their authority in a trivial matter instead of concentrating on the real issue in accordance with the terms of refernece laid out in their duties to get to the bottom of corruption.....There has more publicity given to O"Farrell than has been to Obied.


Another victim of a commission out of control

Peter van Onselen
The Australian
April 17, 2014 12:00AM

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WE can all sleep safely tonight in the knowledge that the Independent Commission Against Corruption in NSW has rooted out Premier Barry O’Farrell’s (at worst) failure to admit receiving a bottle of red wine, securing his resignation in the process.

Never mind that it didn’t influence his decisions on Australian Water Holdings; he rejected their application for the delivery of water infrastructure, notwithstanding AWH’s many (alleged) attempts to influence the policies of the NSW government.

We also sleep safely in the knowledge that Arthur Sinodinos has been outed for seeking an *albeit sizeable fee for his advice as chairman of a company. No evidence of wrongdoing mind you, but with Sinodinos’s ministerial career scuttled and his reputation besmirched in the wake of ICAC’s hearings, Tony Abbott’s government is an important man down.

Of course, for anyone who worries about the influence of the Obeids or the many examples of contracts issued and deals done that are anathema to good governance over the past decade in NSW, don’t expect convictions to follow recent public hearings.

It isn’t in ICAC’s charter to obtain convictions. Often the way they go about their inquiries (outside the usual chain of evidence, using phone taps that wouldn’t ordinarily be authorised, interviewing witnesses who are denied legal representation) impinges on charges ultimately being laid.

But there is little to no oversight of the way that ICAC uses the media to tar and feather politicians publicly, even those who have not been found to have engaged in wrongdoing. Anyone reading transcripts from ICAC hearings would be able to see that counsel assisting the inquiry has used the proceedings now to mock witnesses, in my view playing to the media as a key objective.

While it is hard to believe that O’Farrell couldn’t remember receiving such an expensive bottle of red wine, it is also hard to believe that he knowingly would *decide to mislead ICAC, given the consequences of doing so.

This is yet another reason why the star chamber that is ICAC should conduct hearings behind closed doors, if they must go on, so that they retain some legal integrity rather than resemble a modern witch trial.

ICAC needs to be reformed. O’Farrell isn’t the first sitting premier to be caught up in its web: Nick Greiner was forced to resign as premier more than two decades ago despite no finding of wrongdoing against him.


http://www.theaustralian.com.au/opi...n-out-of-control/story-fn53lw5p-1226887099719

 

[SirRumpole]

.that fellow Geronimo (!), as you call him, did not get what he wanted.....

He got a high paying job at a government authority, State Water Corporation.

Once you start digging, other things may be uncovered. BOF got out very fast.

 

[SirRumpole]

But there is little to no oversight of the way that ICAC uses the media to tar and feather politicians publicly, even those who have not been found to have engaged in wrongdoing. Anyone reading transcripts from ICAC hearings would be able to see that counsel assisting the inquiry has used the proceedings now to mock witnesses, in my view playing to the media as a key objective.

While it is hard to believe that O’Farrell couldn’t remember receiving such an expensive bottle of red wine, it is also hard to believe that he knowingly would *decide to mislead ICAC, given the consequences of doing so.

This is all baloney. O'Farrell couldn't answer the question asked, and he fell on his own sword.

Funny we didn't hear these sort of criticisms when Obeid and MacDonald got a going over.