My final day!
March 31st, 2004 at 5:21 am by David FarrarWow, after eight years working at Parliament, today is my final day. I made the decision a few months ago to set up my own company and go self employed from 1 April, and that’s tomorrow!
The farewell drinks are tonight, and lots of friends and colleagues, past and present, heading along on the basis of any excuse for a drink. With the House in urgency, the bar remains open until 1.00 am which is a happy coincidence (thanks to Dr Cullen!).
Yesterday had the slighly more formal Afternoon Tea. A couple of embarrassing stories as are usual for the occassions, including one I really had forgotten about, and really would have rather not emerged. Alcohol has a lot to answer for.
By coincidence Jenny Shipley, Bill English and Don Brash all there for parts of it. Just needed Mr Bolger for the full set, but he was no doubt busy banking somewhere. In my eight years I’ve managed to survive working for four Leaders, six Deputy Leaders and seven Chiefs of Staff.
Winston Peters once commented to me that he didn’t know how I managed to always stay on with all four Leaders and that it wouldn’t have happened if he had become Leader. I’m not sure whether he was implying that if he had become Leader, there wouldn’t have been four Leaders in total, or that he would not have kept me on. I suspect a bit of both 
No-one should expect any updates to my blog on Thursday morning, and even Thursday afternoon will be pretty unlikely I suspect, assuming tonight goes to plan which I think may finish up at the Green Parrot sometime early Thursday morning.
But in theory I will have more time for blogging from tomorrow onwards, plus I will be slightly less constrained in what I can say so onwards and outwards!
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March 31st, 2004 at 6:59 am
Looking forward to some unabashedly opinionated outbursts from now on!
Remember 1 bottle of wine good, 2 bottle ok, 3 bottl… bad, very very bad. Might pay to stick to the single malt.
Vote:March 31st, 2004 at 7:40 am
Hah! Finally released into the private sector where you can do something useful. All the best David – and I hope your head really, really hurts.
Vote:March 31st, 2004 at 8:50 am
Congratulations David: it’s taken you a long time to get out of the Bunker. But then, I can’t see you leaving the political world completely behind. And you’ve been in it a long time. At least 18 years that I know of…
Vote:March 31st, 2004 at 9:07 am
I’m not one to accuse Mr Farrar of making anything up on his blog *coughFarrarFactcough*, but I was present at the announcement of his impending resignation several years ago – not several months ago!
I will be attending the drinks just to make sure it is true and to wish him well in the private sector. An interesting time to be a pollster!
Till tonight then.
Milsy
Vote:March 31st, 2004 at 9:20 am
Like Millsy I’ll wont believe it until I see it. I was only there for 18 months and I’m sure you tried to leave… twice!
Vote:March 31st, 2004 at 9:23 am
Have a couple for me DPF, sorry I couldn’t make it up. Does this mean you can finally tell some of *those* stories or do the involved/guilty parties still have to die first?
Vote:March 31st, 2004 at 11:21 am
Will try to get to your drinks (and I hope you will not be following the disturbing trend of these ACT MPs in holding parties with a cash bar), but if not, good luck for your new life outside of here, and best wishes from the Labour camp!
Vote:April 1st, 2004 at 3:07 pm
Was a great night. Some stories will be published in my book, but a few wil have to wait until after *I* die
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