Not long after he was first elected to the NSW parliament in 1995, Barry O'Farrell spoke passionately in a debate on ministerial ethics.
"Ministers should tell the truth and behave honestly at all times," the then Liberal backbencher told parliament.
Almost 20 years on, the NSW premier has fallen on his sword after a "massive memory fail" in front of the Independent Commission Against Corruption over a gifted bottle of Penfolds wine.
O'Farrell joined the Liberal Party in 1980 and became state director from 1992 to 1995, before seeking preselection and winning the seat of Northcott.
When that seat was abolished in 1998, he shifted to Ku-ring-gai, which he won in 1999 and has held ever since.
MPs' ethics have been a passion of O'Farrell's, who's sat on the privilege and ICAC committees for most of his parliamentary career.
O'Farrell, seen as a cleanskin and the antidote to years of Labor government scandals, won the 2011 election in a massive landslide.
NSW's 43rd premier told the coalition party room soon after the March 2011 poll: "There is no room for complacency or scandals.
"In public life there are double standards. They do set a higher standard for members of parliament; there is no way you can argue it. You simply need to live up to it."
It says a lot about O'Farrell that as soon as he failed to live up to his own standards, he did the right thing and resigned.
