(1) Barry O'Farrell resigned the day after telling the Independent Commission Against Corruption he did not remember receiving a gift of a $3000 bottle of Penfolds Grange from Australian Water Holdings chief Nick di Girolamo in 2011.
(2) The NSW premier said: “I don’t know about this phone call, but what I do know is if I’d received a bottle of 1959 Penfold Grange I’d have known about it.” O’Farrell said he first met Di Girolamo in 2007 after becoming state Liberal leader and maintained “once a month” contact with the prominent Liberal party fundraiser in the lead-up to the 2011 election.
(3) 1.57am BST Barry O'Farrell has just resigned over his evidence to Icac, in which he said he did not receive a gift of a 1959 bottle of Penfolds Grange Hermitage from the head of Australian Water Holdings, Nick Di Girolamo.
(4) The move raises the prospect of a bidding war for Treasury, which owns the Penfolds, Wolf Blass and Beringer brands.
(5) 3.51am BST Remember yesterday the commission was presented evidence by Direct Couriers, the company who delivered the wine, that the 1959 bottle of Penfolds Grange had been delivered to O'Farrell's unattended Roseville home on 20 April, and was left on the porch.
(6) He has not specifically said if he plans to stay in parliament after resigning as premier on Wednesday when a handwritten note emerged in which he thanked the former Australian Water Holdings (AWH) chief executive Nick Di Girolamo for a $3,000 bottle of 1959 Penfolds Grange in 2011.
(7) O’Farrell resigned after insisting under oath that he never received a 1959 bottle of Penfolds Grange from a Liberal fundraiser, only to have a thank-you note for the wine in his handwriting surface the following day.
(8) Twitter wit begins: Earl Penfold ('66) (@PSyvret) There's your headline: RT " @mattjpwns WALKING THE PLONK" April 16, 2014 2.16am BST More from Lenore Taylor: “In public life you meet people, and from time to time they give you things, they might give you ties, they might give you pens...sure a bottle of grange is pretty special.” Asked when he had learned of O’Farrell’s bombshell decision, Abbott said “he texted me that I should call him, by the time I saw the text he was about to go in and make his statement.
(9) The event is sponsored by the makers of the vintage Australian wine, Penfolds Grange.
(10) O’Farrell denied receiving the bottle of 1959 Penfolds Grange when he gave evidence to Icac on Tuesday.
(11) But the company is turning round its fortunes with an ongoing restructuring plan, bolstered by Asia's growing appetite for wine and the value of the Penfolds label.
(12) Greg Dyke will be speaking about his career at the Penfolds' Vintage Years event on 2 November at The Hospital Club, London, at 7pm.
(13) The New South Wales premier, Barry O’Farrell, has denied receiving a 1959 bottle of Penfolds Grange wine valued at $3,000 from the former chief executive of Australian Water Holdings, Nick Di Girolamo.
(14) The records it produced showed that the 1959 bottle of Penfolds Grange had been delivered to O'Farrell's unattended Roseville home on 20 April, where it was left on the porch.
Pinfold
Definition:
(n.) A place in which stray cattle or domestic animals are confined; a pound; a penfold.