Friday 2 August 2013

Premier O'Farrell sacks NSW Finance Minister



Under cover of the noise created by the corruption findings against former Labor minister Ian McDonald and Labor MP Eddie Obeid, Barry O'Farrell gets on with the business of sacking his own Finance Minister.

The Illawarra Mercury 1 August 2013:

NSW Finance Minister and Minister for the Illawarra Greg Pearce has been sacked for breaching the ministerial code of conduct just weeks after he returned to the job from stress leave.
NSW Premier Barry O’Farrell said he told Mr Pearce of his decision over the phone at 1.45pm today….
After previously standing by Mr Pearce, Premier Barry O’Farrell today said the finance minister had failed to declare a conflict of interest in appointing lawyer Richard Fisher to the board of Sydney Water…
Mr Pearce had been under fire in recent months following allegations that he was drunk in Parliament and that he had rorted the ministerial travel guidelines over a trip to Canberra.
A report by the Department of Premier and Cabinet in June found that Mr Pearce had breached the state government’s ministerial travel guidelines when he booked a private trip to Canberra through the government’s travel agency.
Mr Pearce paid for the bill upon his return, but saved himself $188 by using the contractor.
Mr Pearce apologised for his actions before announcing that he was taking a month off to recover from ‘‘stress and exhaustion’’…..

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