Barry O'Farrell resigns after being caught out over bottle of wine

A tummy-butterfly-inducing day so highly anticipated it was preceded, one imagines, by a sleepless night spent practising witty one-liners with which to greet Princess Kate, and thanking God for the fact that (finally!) he was about to meet a woman who would not object to being called a ‘‘lady’’.

Read the whole article here.

Until recently, there was much satisfaction among Liberal leaders everywhere as ICAC peeled away the layers that protected the cheery relationship between NSW Labor and shonks like the Obeids, revealing putrefaction within.

But then, mercy, the nation’s assistant treasurer Arthur Sinodinos, a Liberal fellow, found himself gulping gallons of water and suffering shocking amnesia, the interrogation lamp of ICAC burning a hole in his credibility.

And now, Great Gods, NSW Liberal Premier - whoops, former premier - Barry O’Farrell has gone and crucified himself, lying under ICAC’s oath or, at the very least, suffering the worst blackout in drinking history. Who forgets getting a $3000 bottle of Grange laid down since the year of their birth?

What were the NSW rule-makers thinking when they gave rein to a mob as effective as ICAC? Things are clearly out of control when BOTH major parties are getting a flogging.

"...As the evidence was emerging I think even his closest friends and supporters would say there was going to be no alternative to this. It was decisive of him to get to the point quickly rather than to fight on.

Having attracted ridicule about the parts of his diary that focus on diet and exercise, Mr Carr - who gave up drinking three years ago - said he wouldn’t know how many calories were in a bottle of ’59 Grange.

“Too many... wine is full of sugar, and after wasting too much of my life savouring good wine, I reached a decision that the disadvantages outweigh the joy of the stuff,” he said.

“As tempted as I am by a wonderful pinot noir from time to time, I think being clear-headed is the better course.”