Leader of Australia’s most populous state quits over failure to declare gift of $2,800 wine
CANBERRA, Australia – The leader of Australia’s most populous state has quit as premier in the face of mounting evidence that he failed to declare a 3,000 Australian dollar ($2,800) bottle of wine that arrived as a gift on his Sydney doorstep.
New South Wales Premier Barry O’Farrell had told a corruption inquiry on Tuesday that he never received a bottle of 1959 Penfolds’ “Grange Hermitage” as a gift from businessman Nick Di Girolamo congratulating him on his 2011 election win.
But O’Farrell said Wednesday he was announcing his resignation because he had been told that a thank-you note he had handwritten to Di Girolamo would be tendered to the Independent Commission Against Corruption.
O’Farrell accepted that he had written the note.
His lawmaker colleagues will elect a new premier next week.
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