NSW ICAC Operation Spicer Week Two - running sheet and witness list outline

To date one NSW Premier has resigned, one NSW minister has resigned and been suspended from the Liberal Party, one NSW Minister has resigned, one NSW Liberal MLC has resigned from a parliamentary position and stood aside, two NSW MPs been suspended from the Liberal Party and one Liberal federal senator has stood aside, as a result of the Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) Operation Credo and Operation Spicer investigations.

They are:

Barry O’Farrell - MP for Kur-ing-gai, former NSW Premier & Minister for Western Sydney until his resignation on 17 April 2014

Chris Hartcher - NSW MP for Terrigal, Minister for Resources and Energy, Minister for the Central Coast & Special Minister of State until 9 December 2013 and now suspended from the Liberal Party of Australia (NSW)

Mike Gallacher – NSW MLC and, NSW Minister for Police and Emergency Services until his resignation on 2 May 2014

Marie Ficarra - Member of the NSW Legislative Council and, a former parliamentary secretary until 17 April 2014

Darren Webber – MP for Wyong now suspended from the Liberal Party of Australia (NSW)

Christopher Spence – MP for The Entrance now suspended from the Liberal Party of Australia (NSW)

Arthur Sinodinis - Federal Senator for NSW and Assistant Treasurer in the Abbott Government (not fulfilling assistant treasurer duties for the duration of the investigations)

Operation Spicer enters its second week today.

Operation Spicer is an investigation into:…whether, between April 2009 and April 2012, certain members of parliament including Christopher Hartcher, Darren Webber and Christopher Spence, along with others including Timothy Koelma and Raymond Carter, corruptly solicited, received, and concealed payments from various sources in return for certain members of parliament favouring the interests of those responsible for the payments.

The Commission is also examining whether, between December 2010 and November 2011, certain members of parliament, including those mentioned above, and others, including Raymond Carter, solicited, received and failed to disclose political donations from companies, including prohibited donors, contrary to the Election Funding, Expenditure and Disclosures Act 1981.

Further allegations include whether Eightbyfive, a business operated by Mr Koelma entered into agreements with each of a series of entities including Australian Water Holdings Pty Ltd (AWH), whereby each entity made regular payments to Eightbyfive, purportedly for the provision of media, public relations and other services and advice, in return for which Mr Hartcher favoured the interests of the respective entity.

The ICAC is also investigating the circumstances in which false allegations of corruption were made against senior SWC executives….

NSW ICAC Operation Spicer Witness List For Week Two:

Darren Williams - development manager at the Buildev Group and a sponsor of the Sydney-based Liberal Party associated entity The Millennium Forum in 2008

Troy Palmer - chief executive of Hunter Sports Group, Chief Financial Officer of Patinack and a Buildev Group director

David Sharpe - one of the co-owners of Buildev

Nabil Gazal – Gazcorp director Sydney property developer

Nicholas Gazal – Gazcorp director Sydney property developer

Eric Koelma – brother to Tim Koelma creator of the ‘slush fund’ corporation, Eightbyfive

Grahame Young - CEO of Tesrol property group

Gary Bonaccorso – Sydney property developer
Doug Sneddon - planning consultant

Anthony Bandle – trustee of Liberal and National Parties’ Canberra-based associated entity Free Enterprise Foundation 

John Abel – NSW Liberal Party member and factional identity within the party
Tony Merhi - property developer and alleged Liberal Party donor
Marie Ficarra - Member of the NSW Legislative Council and, a former parliamentary secretary until 17 April 2014
Peter McConnell - former chief of staff to former NSW Premier Barry O'Farrell

Nick Di Girolamo - Liberal Party fundraiser, managing partner at Colin Biggers & Paisley until February 2007 after which he joined Australian Water Holdings as CEO and shareholder

Removed from Week Two List:

Paul Nicolaou - principal fundraiser for the New South Wales Liberal Party and former chairman of the fundraising associated entity Millennium Forum

Arthur Sinodinos – Federal Liberal Party Senator for New South Wales and Assistant Treasurer (not performing the duties of an assistant treasurer for the duration of the investigations)

Mark Neeham - former State Director of the New South Wales Liberal Party

Simon McInnes - Finance Director of the New South Wales Liberal Party

NSW Independent Commission Against Corruption questions second member of Abbott Government

Has Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott’s notoriously bad judgment come home to roost again?

The Sydney Morning Herald 24 February 2014: Tony Abbott with Karen McNamara

Central Coast Express Advocate 27 April 2012:

Ms McNamara lost the preselection battle at a local level last year to Garry Whittaker.

At the weekend, Liberal Party chiefs decided to parachute Ms McNamara in to number one spot.

"All good things come to those who wait," Ms McNamara said.

"I am excited and enthusiastic about being selected.

"It's an honour Tony (federal Opposition Leader Tony Abbott) and the party have confidence in my abilities," she said.

The Daily Telegraph 27 May 2012:

So on the Central Coast, Abbott decreed, there would be no more shed men. In fact, there would be no men at all; instead, two "strong women". In Dobell, it was Karen McNamara, who is backed by Hartcher, while in Robertson, it was Lucy Wicks of the Alex Hawke "soft Right" faction.

The Sydney Morning Herald 2 May 2014:

In other dramatic evidence on Friday, federal Liberal MP Karen McNamara was accused of participating in electoral fraud over her involvement in raising funds for Central Coast MP Darren Webber, the state member for Wyong, while the NSW Liberal Party's former chief fundraiser, Paul Nicolaou, was alleged to have taken a secret cut of all the donations he collected.

Transcript of the evidence given to the NSW Independent Commission of Inquiry by Karen McNamara Federal Liberal Member for Dobell on 2 May 2014. Evidence begins at Page 35.

UPDATE

Australian Financial Review 7 May 2014:

Meanwhile Lusted had shared his growing concerns with Hughes about his $5000 donation to Eightbyfive.

“I advised him to get whatever paperwork he had available to him in his business, to get on a plane and to go and talk to Bill ­Heffernan in Canberra,” Hughes told ICAC.

State director Mark Neeham wrote to Lusted on March 14, 2012, noting that all political donations must be disclosed but that, “I confirm that the Party has investigated your claim to the fullest extent permitted by your request that it preserve your anonymity during the course of its investigations. I confirm the Party has not been able to prove or disprove your claim.”

What to do about it was Lusted’s decision. Neeham suggested he talk to a lawyer.

But Lusted had already declared the $5000 and by mid-April the Electoral Funding Authority was investigating. By May 12 Koelma and Carter would be forced to stand aside as Hartcher staffers.

So it seems remarkable, given the questions about what McNamara knew of the hidden payments, that on April 20, 2012 the NSW state executive replaced Whitaker with McNamara as candidate for Dobell. Lusted the whistleblower was ignored.

Abbott would have been aware of the Eightbyfive investigation because it was his representative on the NSW state executive, Bill Heffernan, who reported it.

What were they thinking?

McNamara may be entitled to presumption of innocence but politically her appointment has now become a problem.

NSW Independent Commission Against Corruption Operation Spicer - Day One running sheet

To date one NSW Premier has resigned, one NSW minister has resigned and been suspended from the Liberal Party, one NSW Liberal MLC has resigned from a parliamentary position and stood aside, two NSW MPs been suspended from the Liberal Party and one Liberal federal senator has stood down, as a result of the Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) Operation Credo and Operation Spicer investigations.

They are:

Barry O’Farrell - MP for Kur-ing-gai, former NSW Premier & Minister for Western Sydney until 17 April 2014

Chris Hartcher - NSW MP for Terrigal, Minister for Resources and Energy, Minister for the Central Coast & Special Minister of State until 9 December 2013 and now suspended from the Liberal Party of Australia (NSW)

Marie Ficarra - Member of the NSW Legislative Council and a former parliamentary secretary until 17 April 2014

Darren Webber – MP for Wyong now suspended from the Liberal Party of Australia (NSW)

Christopher Spence – MP for The Entrance now suspended from the Liberal Party of Australia (NSW)

Arthur Sinodinis - Federal Senator for NSW and former Assistant Treasurer in the Abbott Government

UPDATE: On 2 May 2014 NSW Police Minister Mike Gallacher stood aside after being named as a subject of the inquiry.

The following are some of the individuals who received mention in the opening statement by counsel assisting ICAC on the first day of Operation Spicer hearings (see transcript):

Liberal MP and then NSW Minister for Resources and Energy Chris Hartcher

The Liberal MP. Christopher Hartcher, together with persons who worked

with him, set out to attract additional funding for the benefit of a small group

of Liberal Party candidates on the Central Cost. To pull it off, one of those

employees, Timothy Koelma, set up a business called Eightbyfive. They

then attracted payments from 40 prohibited donors who were interested in

buying favours from Mr Hartcher.

Liberal MP for Lane Cove and NSW Minister for Resources and Energy Antony Roberts

Just one example of this will suffice; Mr Hartcher was wont to holiday

aboard the Gazal’s yacht Octavia at Hamilton Island, here I’ll show it up on

the screen, here for example is a record from Mr Hartcher’s diary recording

his trip to Hamilton Island in August 2007. “Fly to Hamilton Island, Nabil”,

that’s Nabil Gazal. And there you can see that how the cabins were

distributed, four cabins. Nabil’s got the master cabin, Mr Hartcher the VIP,

Anthony, we believe that’s Anthony Roberts the current Minister,

Anthony’s got a side cabin, there’s a junior cabin for kids, there’s a bit of a

blow there because they need a chef, et cetera et cetera. We tried to check

on who paid for the flights and the like but the records unfortunately were

long gone.

Sebastian Reed nephew of former of NSW Resources and Energy Minister Chris Hartcher

The Hartcher Reed Affair; small in size but serious in principal.

Christopher Hartcher got control of $4000 in donations which had to be

laundered before they could be used. To do so he dragged a respected firm

of solicitors and his own nephew unwittingly into an illicit enterprise and

into a misuse of a trust account.

Paul Nicolaou NSW Liberal Party fundraiser

On 27 February, 2010, Mr Nicolaou  wrote a letter to Alan Jones with the

apparent purpose of encouraging him to use his radio program to denounce

Sydney Water and traduce Dr Schott. Mr Nicolaou wrote to Mr Jones on

the letterhead of the Millennium Forum and the Millennium Forum is the

fundraising arm of the New South Wales Liberal Party…..

Commissioner, this was serious stuff. I’ll show some more transcript from

Mr Nicolaou’s evidence. It was very serious stuff and Mr Nicolaou agreed.

Question, “Based on what I’m saying”, I really regret reading this out

incidentally, Commissioner, Dr Schott has been warned that these awful

things could be said about her and I regret having to repeat them, I do so, I

want to preface it by saying this Dr Schott was shown to be absolutely and

utterly incorruptible but anyway I’ll go on it needs to be done. Based upon

what I’m saying, this is the question, “I’m reading to you your own words,

based upon what you said you were alleging Dr Schott was a based corrupt

criminal weren’t you?”, answer, “Based on the email that I sent, yes”,

question, “And you did that without any regard as to whether it was an

accurate complaint didn’t you?”, answer, “Yes”, question, “And you did it

in the hope that this fellow Jones would blurt it out all over this radio

program didn’t you?”, answer, “Yes”, question, “The objective was to

humiliate Schott and her senior executive team publicly wasn’t it?”, answer,

“Yes”

Liberal Member of the NSW Legislative Assembly Marie Ficarra

Marie Ficarra solicited a donation from the property developer, Tony Merhi,

knowing that Mr Merhi was a prohibited donor. Both knew what they were

doing was wrong. The same evidence will show that Ms Ficarra was

complicit in the Eightbyfive scheme.

Tim Koelma Liberal Party Member and former staffer to then NSW Minister for Resources and Energy Chris Hartcher

Commencing from April 2009, Australian Water Holdings paid a monthly

retainer to Eightbyfive. The payments continued until May 2011 and in all

around $183,000 was paid to Eightbyfive. The invoices submitted by

Eightbyfive to Australian Water Holdings describe the services as,

“Products and services as stipulated in service level agreement.” Whatever

that means.

Apart from the issue as to whether Mr Koelma had the skills and experience

necessary to provide anything of value, there is a deeper question as to why

it was necessary for Australian Water Holdings to purchase those services at

all, after all it had a barrage of lobbyists on retainer already and its board

included Liberal Party heavies such as Mr Di Girolamo and Arthur

Sinodinos….

And there’s yet another twist here. You’ll recall I mentioned this earlier –

Gazcorp resumed making payments to Eightbyfive from September 2011

until April 2012, this time in monthly amounts of $2,000, in all about

$16,000 was paid. Now, this is disturbing because Mr Koelma had resumed

work in the Ministerial office of Mr Hartcher and there is no way that he

should have been involved in any Government relations activities at that

time. Of course his subcontractors had gone on to bigger and better things,

 they were both elected to Parliament. Mr Koelma had no subcontractors so

he attempted to explain away these payments by suggesting that his wife,

Tennille Koelma, was providing the services, but unfortunately for Mr

Koelma, we’ve spoken to Mrs Koelma and she denied that.

Timothy Trumbull accountant

It all stems from some donations made by an unusual character, Timothy

Trumbull, an avid anti-socialist accountant. A number of donations tallying

$4,000 emanated from him. The donations were made by women he

employed. Mr Trumbull told us that this was because his staff were so

troubled by the socialist Labor Government in Canberra that they wanted to

make contributions to the New South Wales Liberal Party.

Well, this was all nonsense. We spoke to Mr Trumbull’s staff and we will

tender transcripts of their evidence. They deny being politically motivated.

In fact each of them I think from recollection was from overseas and none

of them even had a right to vote. They didn’t know there was a difference

between Labor or Liberal. Each of them says that Mr Trumbull organised

the whole thing and its transparent what the, what Mr Trumbull did was just

done to avoid the $5,000 cap which had been placed upon individual

donors. We can prove that Mr Trumbull had already reached his limit but

he wanted to give more. That’s all back story, it’s only where the story

starts. The donations were made bank cheques. Although the cheques were

drawn on 16 March, 2011 they seem to have lain dormant for some time.

On 17 November, 2011 the bank cheques were deposited into the trust

account of the firm of solicitors Hartcher Reid. I’ll just put that up on the

screen so that you can see it. This is a deposit slip that we’ve been able to

recover from the Westpac Bank, the branch in Martin Place, a three minute

walk from Parliament House. You can see up in the top left-hand side

where it says “Paid in by” that the identity of the person who made the

deposit has been rendered illegible. Commissioner, you might think that

that was deliberate. At first we wondered how bank cheques made out to

the Liberal Party of New South Wales could be banked to the credit of

Hartcher Reid but we were told that there was an arrangement under which

such cheques can be deposited into a solicitor’s trust account.

Darren Williams co-founder and director of Buildev

When Mr Williams pursued the payment, he did not speak of services

provided by Mr Koelma or services providing of Eightbyfive, I’ll just

show you who he referred to. This is a message that Mr Darren Williams

from Buildev sent to Troy Palmer. Up the top, “Mate, Libs are chasing me

up, mate. I don’t want to burn them, can you call them?” Commissioner,

at the end of this inquiry we will urge you to find that this was not a

transaction with Eightbyfive, it was a transaction with the Libs, it was

a payment which was being made to the Liberal Party.

Troy Palmer Chief Financial Officer of the Tinkler Group

On 19 April, 2013, Mr Palmer sent Mr Williams an SMS text message

and you can see it there. “Have you got Eightbyfive under control?

We can’t have Patinack involved in an ICAC hearing.”

Nabil Gazal, Nabil Gazal Jnr. and Nicholas Gazal

The Gazal family and Orange Grove; another major developer drawn into 

the Eightbyfive scheme was Gazcorp Pty Limited a company owned and 

controlled by the Gazal family who developed the controversial Orange 

Grove Shopping Centre. Over time Gazcorp paid $137,000 for fake 

services invoiced by Eightbyfive. 

NSW ICAC Operation Spicer hearings begin today - witness list partial breakdown

On 28 April 2014 at 11:00 am. A NSW Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) investigation, Operation Spicer, will begin public hearings to examine:

…whether, between April 2009 and April 2012, certain members of parliament including Christopher Hartcher, Darren Webber and Christopher Spence, along with others including Timothy Koelma and Raymond Carter, corruptly solicited, received, and concealed payments from various sources in return for certain members of parliament favouring the interests of those responsible for the payments.

The Commission is also examining whether, between December 2010 and November 2011, certain members of parliament, including those mentioned above, and others, including Raymond Carter, solicited, received and failed to disclose political donations from companies, including prohibited donors, contrary to the Election Funding, Expenditure and Disclosures Act 1981.

Further allegations include whether Eightbyfive, a business operated by Mr Koelma entered into agreements with each of a series of entities including Australian Water Holdings Pty Ltd (AWH), whereby each entity made regular payments to Eightbyfive, purportedly for the provision of media, public relations and other services and advice, in return for which Mr Hartcher favoured the interests of the respective entity.

The ICAC is also investigating the circumstances in which false allegations of corruption were made against senior SWC executives (see also the Commission's Operation Credo public inquiry).

Individuals due to appear as witnesses in the first week of Operation Spicer hearings:

Karen McNamara – Federal Liberal MP for Dobell

Jodi McKay – former Labor MP for Newcastle, former NSW Minister for Tourism

Charles Perrottet – NSW Liberal state executive member, former adviser to then NSW Resources and Energy Minister Chris Hartcher, brother of NSW Minister for Finance & Services Dominic Perrottet and Government Affairs Analyst at BP Australia Pty Ltd

Tenille Koelma – Anconna Resources shareholder and wife of Tim Koelma former aide to then NSW Resources and Energy Minister Chris Hartcher

John Caputo - director of First National Real Estate in Dee Why,former mayor of Warringah, committee member of Prime Minister Abbott's Warringah federal electorate conference and vice-president of NSW Premier Mike Baird's Manly state electoral conference

Hollie Hughes - Liberal Party state executive member

Darren Jameson – former NSW police officer and former Liberal pre-selection candidate in Robertson electorate

Aaron Henry – member of the Liberal Party and former staffer with NSW State Liberal Member for The Entrance Chris Spence

Laurie Alexander – former staffer with NSW State Liberal Member for The Entrance Chris Spence

Zaya Toma – Fairfield City councillor and electorate office manager for State Liberal MP for Smithfield Andrew Rohan

Nathan Tinkler – former Patinack Farm horse stud owner and mining magnate

David Sharpe – former executive at BuildDev property developer

Troy Palmer - chief executive of Hunter Sports Group and a Buildev Group director

Matthew Lusted – owner of a Wyong building company and a Liberal Party donor

Tim Gunasinghe – President of the Erina Chamber of Commerce
Timothy Trumble/Trumbull - accountant and Liberal Party donor

Pasquale Sergi – property developer

Angelo Maggiotto –property developer

Iwan Sunito – property developer
Sebastian Reid - nephew of former of NSW Resources and Energy Minister Chris Hartcher
Annette Poole - staff member at legal firm Hartcher Reid

Eric Stammer - General Manager Yeramba Estates property development company

Roy Sergi - Advance Ready Mix Concrete
Peter Hesky - hotelier and property developer
Ekarin Sriwattanaporn - operates IT business Micki-Tech and is partner of Ray Carter former electorate officer for then NSW Resources and Energy Minister Chris Hartcher

Robert Osborne - Liberal Party donor and owner Patonga Beach Hotel

John Abel - Liberal Party member

Marie Neader - receptionist at legal firm Hartcher Reid

John Stevens - owner of the Stevens Group of property development companies

Darren Stevens

A bottle of wine may be the least of the NSW Coalition Government's problems

It’s not just that then NSW Premier Barry O’Farrell denied in evidence before the NSW Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) that he had received a bottle of Penfold’s Grange wine worth almost $3,000 from Nick Di Girolamo on 20 April 2011, nor his failure to declare this gift on his member’s disclosure declaration, that caused him to resign.

The situation is more complex than that and, much of it centers around his friendship with Liberal Party fundraiser and lobbyist Nick Di Girolamo possibly intruding into his decision making in an official capacity.

In 2009 Australia Water Holdings Pty Ltd (AWH) donated $14,350 to the Liberal Party of Australia (NSW Division), in 2010 donations totalled $26,100.00 to the NSW Division and in 2010-11 it donated $61,603 in thirteen different parcels, according to disclosures lodged with the NSW Electoral Funding Authority.

Along the way the company also managed to spend $1,350 fundraising for an unspecified political campaign team.

In 2010-11 AWH also donated $2,200 to the Australian Labor Party (NSW Branch) and $10,000 to the National Party of Australia (NSW).

According to media reports, then Shadow Minister for Natural Resource Management and now NSW Minister for Primary Industries Katrina Hodgkinson passed that $10,000 donation straight onto the Nationals state branch.  

On 6 June 2007 Nick and Jodie Di Girolamo made a personal donation to the “Liberal Party” of $2,500 and on 30 September 2010 Nick Di Girolamo made a personal donation to the “NSW Liberal Party” of $1,833.

In 2011 Australian Water Holdings contracted Liberal Party power broker Michael Photios, who was then acting as a government relations consultant, to supply advice to then CEO Nick Di Girolamo and lobby the O’Farrell Government on the company’s behalf for a fee of $5,000 per month.

On 18 January 2012 state-owned Sydney Water Corporation and Australian Water Holdings Pty Ltd signed a project management service contract and Liberal Party member/fundraiser and AWH part-owner Nick Di Girolamo was appointed to the board of State Water in July 2012 at which time Ms Hodgkinson was water minister with responsibility for the corporation. 

In 2013 Mike Baird as Treasurer told an estimates hearing that all board appointments were made on merit and approved by cabinet.

On 17 March 2014 it was reported that the Liberal Party of Australia intended to return to Sydney Water the $75,636 in AWH political donations which had been improperly billed to the state-owned water corporation as AWH administration fees.

Mr. Di Girolamo appears to have resigned from Sydney Water on the day the two NSW Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) investigations Credo and Spicer were announced. He is also reported to have resigned from the board of Australian Water Holdings in 2013 and possibly divested himself of shareholdings in that company since then.

Di Girolamo gave evidence during the first investigation and, both the fact that AWH was blatantly gouging the state-owned water agency Sydney Water for millions of dollars and his high level of access to the NSW Coalition Government and then Premier Barry O’Farrell came to light.

When questioned in the NSW Parliament on 26 March 2014, Premier O’Farrell did not deny a 26 May 2011 meeting between himself, the former finance minister and Mr. Di Girolamo about AWH at which it was allegedly decided that Sydney Water should stop the public tender process and replace its managing director in the new tender process.

Neither did he deny writing a letter of support on 28 September 2010 in his capacity as Opposition Leader, in order to assist Australian Water Holdings in securing that lucrative contract with Sydney Water nor deny an earlier 12 August meeting with Di Girolamo and Obeid concerning his support of AWH’s bid for the Sydney Water contact and a September 2011 meeting with Di Girolamo.

On 16 April 2014 Barry O'Farrell resigned as NSW Premier after he was found to have mislead the NSW Independent Commission Against Corruption.

That this level of contact between O'Farrell and Australian Water Holdings may not have been  in the best interests of the people of New South Wales is indicated by the fact that barely one day into his new premiership Mike Baird stepped back from his previous 12 November 2013 support of board appointments; I am happy to stand in this Chamber and state clearly that we are very proud of the appointments we have made to our State-owned corporations. And I stand by every statement I have made and, his 2012 particular support as Treasurer of Nick Di Girolamo. Conceding that his backing as the then shareholding minister for State Water Corporation and cabinet’s backing of a Sydney Water board appointment for Di Girolamo were wrong moves; In hindsight, should that have been done? No.

However, according to Fairfax Media Premier Baird and former Premier O'Farrell also have a wider history with regard to political donations and board appointments:

In July [2012], Mr Massy-Greene was appointed chairman of Networks NSW, which will manage the state-owned electricity networks, Ausgrid, Endeavour Energy and Essential Energy, when they are merged into a single entity.

No executive search was undertaken before the appointment, which was confirmed by Mr Baird in a press release on July 2.

At a budget estimates hearing at State Parliament today, opposition MPs revealed that Mr Massy-Greene's company, Eureka Capital Partners, has donated $15,000 to Mr Baird's election campaigns.

According to NSW Election Funding Authority records, Eureka Capital Partners donated $10,000 to Mr Baird in March 2007 and $5000 in March last year, shortly before the state election.

As chairman of Networks NSW, Mr Massy-Greene reports directly to Mr Baird and the Finance and Services Minister, Greg Pearce.

The Treasurer told the hearing he had known Mr Massy-Greene "through the years as someone ... through business".

Challenged by Labor MPs about whether the appointment was appropriate, given the donations, Mr Baird insisted it was made by the Premier, Barry O'Farrell.

"It's a Premier's decision, he made the decision," Mr Baird said. "We are appointing people on the basis of their merits."

ICAC is yet to hear evidence in the second investigation concerning allegations that between April 2009 and April 2012, former Liberal NSW Minister for Resources and Energy Christopher Hartcher and Liberal MPs Darren Webber and Christopher Spence, along with others including Timothy Koelma and Raymond Carter, corruptly solicited, received, and concealed payments from various sources in return for certain members of parliament favouring the interests of those responsible for the payments.

It is possible that a number of Liberal Party MPs and perhaps Liberal Senator Arthur Sinodinos may be called as witnesses during this investigation.

Mr. O’Farrell led a government that is likely to be judged as corrupt on a number of fronts by New South Wales voters whatever the final ICAC report concludes – in the meantime that bottle of wine has allowed him to escape the full glare of future media scrutiny while the political secrets still work their way into the light during Operation Spicer hearings.

NOTE: This post will be updated in the text whenever new information becomes known.

One blogger's reaction to what the mainstream media are not saying about the O'Farrell resignation

Blogger Victoria Rollison in The Australian  Independent Media Network, 16 April 2014:

Today the media have presented their preferred frame for the resignation of Barry O’Farrell as: he mistakenly lied to an ICAC enquiry because he forgot that he received a $3,000 bottle of wine from the CEO of Australian Water Holdings. But of course O’Farrell didn’t resign because of his problems with ‘memory’. He resigned because he could no longer deny a personal expensive-wine-recipient, hand-written-note-receiver, phone-call-taker-relationship with someone who was earning over a million dollars a year as CEO of a company in a public-private partnership with the government Barry O’Farrell was in charge of up until today. This information is completely absent from the media’s framing of this story. But just imagine for a moment if one part of this story was different. Imagine for a moment that Barry O’Farrell was a Labor Premier. Imagine if Tony Abbott, standing by O’Farrell and brawling with a journalist asking questions about corruption, was a Labor Prime Minister. The ‘chaos, scandal, dysfunction, smear’ machine works in overdrive for Labor stories, but can’t even get out of second gear when Liberals are involved.

Independent Commission Against Corruption claims Liberal NSW Premier O'Farrell's scalp

NSW Premier and Liberal Party MP Barry O’Farrell denied receiving a $3,000 bottle of Penfold's Grange Hermitage wine on or about 20 April 2011, from long-time Liberal Party member and then Australian Water Holdings CEO Nick Di Girolamo.

He did not declare this gift in either his ministerial or member’s declarations of pecuniary interests.

Further, in evidence before the NSW Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) on 15 April 2014 O’Farrell could not recall many details of his official or private contact with Di Giolamo.

Then this made its appearance reportedly courtesy of Mr. Di Girolamo:

 The Telegraph 15 April 2014

Subsequently Barry O’Farrell announced his intention to resign as premier.

UPDATE

Courier billing document listing Australian Water Holdings' Gift to Barry O'Farrell & Wife:

Quote of the Week

"It’s Politics 101"

[Liberal Senator and former federal assistant treasurer Arthur Sinodinos, giving evidence before the NSW Independent Commission Against Corruption on the subject of the commercial use of his political connections, 3 April 2014]

Australian Water Holdings: Footy, limousines and pole dancing

It would appear that either the directors or the ten or so employees knew how to give themselves a good time…….

Excerpt from NSW Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) Operation Credo-Spicer Investigation public hearing on 27 March 2014 on the subject of Australian Water Holdings Pty Ltd:

GEOFFREY WATSON SC (counsel assisting ICAC): And earlier in your evidence you used an expression horrified, you were  horrified by the expenses, apart from the salaries, you’ve told us about that, were there other aspects that horrified you?

MICHAEL COSTA (former NSW Labor Treasurer who succeeded Arthur Sinodinos as Chairman): Oh, Mr Canaway made it very clear what some of the expenses were via his due diligence um, arrangements and, you know, they were quite staggering.

WATSON: What sort of things?

COSTA: Oh, that stuff that’s been canvassed in the press, limousines um, um, I think he did mention pole dancing um, so I don’t know what that was all about um, look, it was, it was clear that the um, the, the expenses were out of control um  

WATSON: What about the box out at the footy stadium?

COSTA: I, I didn’t find out about that till much later and Robert Groom advised me of that, we - and when I was there I tried, we tried to cancel it um, but it wasn’t um, possible to cancel because they had a, a contract. I think I must have found out um, there might have been two or three games left or ah, but I never of course went there. The other um, was it, the other expenses were things like directors’ fees for the Queensland directors which I thought were ah, you know um, had to be cut ah, that whole Queensland operation though it was, I’ve got to say they were doing good work up there, I mean, the proposal they came up with ah, in terms of the coal seam gas was a very innovative proposal and if it had of been successful would have been um, um, you know, added enormous value to the company.

Why did Australian Water Holdings Pty Ltd owe $20,000 to the Liberal Party in 2010?

 

Political donation, lobbyist fee or yet something else again?

One of the questions asked and answered at the NSW Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) Operation Credo-Spicer investigation public hearing on 20 March 2014:

MR O’MAHONEY( counsel assisting ICAC): Did you reference the, I think you referred to them as soft costs but the discretionary costs and you’re concerns about them with Mr Sinodinos?---

RODERICK XAVIER DE ABOITIZ (AWH shareholder): Yes, I did. With Nick I went into more specific detail because I sent him the email with my comments against the accounts that he mentioned.

MR O’MAHONEY: Can you remember any of the specific costs that you took issue with?---

DE ABOITIZ: Look, you know, it seemed like, I just said to him, for a start if you’re 20 paying lobbyists, just stop it, you can’t afford it, so at that time there was $20,000 that I think was owing to the Liberal Party and so these amounts were I believe payables that were “overdue”….