I'm surprised O'Farrell wasn't able to talk his way out of it. It is an understandable oversight really, a Premier is just elected, he has people congratulating him left right and centre, I understand he was dealing with some family matters at the time as well. Also from what I understand of O'Farrell and his prolific thank-you note writing he's the type of person to sit down and write thank-you notes before worrying about bureaucracy. It's a mistake to not declare the gift on pecuniary interests and it certainly looks bad but it's not unforgivable. Adding that he effectively lied under oath to ICAC adds a lot of weight to it but it's not something a federal MP wouldn't have been able to weasel out of, (unless they're peter Slipper and their party hates them.)
I was actually quite encouraged to see the "I don't remember' line falling flat on its face and I hope Arthur Sinodinos was paying attention. There's only so much pleading ignorance can do, especially in situations where there is really no excuse for it. It seems to be the default position for any politician facing allegations and you get so tired of it. As far as Australian Water Holdings is concerned the money that was thrown around, the deals, and the self-given salaries really isn't something you could be forgiven for forgetting about.
So O'Farrell's toast with three NSW Liberal MPs yet to go to ICAC, (Hartcher, Spence, and Webber,) this could get fun. Feeling more and more in favour of Christine Milne's idea to set up a federal version of ICAC though, the whole machine is rotten - it's not restricted to parties and it's not restricted to states. Whether its business lobbyists or union power-brokers, the influence and the deals and back-scratching is pretty awful.
Also Jaekus is right about Abbott, he should have distanced himself. The thing is Abbott understands the ability for ICAC inquiries to be used to smear a party - he did it himself quite gleefully mid last year when Ian Macfarlane and Eddie Obeid were front and centre.
![https://pbs.twimg.com/media/BlTtYQTCcAAJCWX.png](https://pbs.twimg.com/media/BlTtYQTCcAAJCWX.png)
So he's going to support O'Farrell and anyone else caught while cracking down harshly, (and patronisingly,) on anyone who tries to do exactly what he did and suggest any development is evidence of corruption within the LNP. Hypocritical, but not dumb.