BARRY O’Farrell has reappeared at a corruption inquiry hours after quitting as NSW premier, insisting he still can’t recall the expensive bottle of wine which caused his downfall.
While conceding he had yesterday given “inaccurate’’ evidence to the Independent Commission against Corruption, Mr O’Farrell said he had testified in good faith and could still not recall receiving a $3000 bottle of vintage Grange.
“I still have no idea what happened to the bottle of wine,’’ the Liberal leader told the ICAC.
Mr O’Farrell was back in the witness stand after yesterday vehemently denying before the ICAC that he had received the $3000 bottle of rare red wine from Nick Di Girolamo, chief executive of Australian Water Holdings, the company at the centre of a corruption inquiry.
The Liberal leader quit as NSW premier this morning after admitting he had sent a thankyou note for the wine.
He blamed a “massive memory fail’’ for his earlier evidence but denied he had sought to mislead the corruption inquiry, wilfully or otherwise.
ICAC was told today the wine was delivered to Mr O’Farrell’s home at 4.30pm on April 20, 2011, shortly after the Liberals won power in NSW.
Called back to the ICAC, Mr O’Farrell said: “I tried to give accurate evidence ... (reports) went from boxes of wine to a box of wine to a bottle of wine ... I gave this matter thought, I considered what I had been doing and yesterday gave my best recollection of that, and I was certainly mistaken.
“Commissioner I regret that
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