NSW Transport Minister Jo Haylen has resigned over her use of taxpayer-funded cars to take trips to the Hunter Valley, including a boozy winery trip with mates.
‘As I said on Sunday, I have made mistakes, people aren’t perfect,’ Ms Haylen said while fronting media in Sydney on Tuesday afternoon.
‘I did not break the rules, but I acknowledge that that’s not the only test here. I’ve let the public down and I’m very sorry for that.
‘We were elected to be better than the last government. This morning I told the premier I will resign my position as minister for transport. I will continue to serve the government as the member for Summer Hill.’
Ms Haylen’s private getaway to the Hunter Valley over the Australia Day long weekend with Housing Minister Rose Jackson, their husbands, and two friends cost the taxpayer $750.
Her ministerial driver waited outside for the politicians as they ate and drank their way through a three-hour lunch at fine dining restaurant The Wood.
In all, the driver worked for 13 hours, and covered 450 kilometres, as he ferried the group to and from the private event.
It happened amid an ongoing pay dispute between the NSW Government and the rail unions that has sparked train strikes and commuter chaos, with millions of Sydneysiders affected.
Ms Haylen’s private getaway to the Hunter Valley over the Australia Day long weekend cost the taxpayer $750
Premier Chris Minns on Tuesday described Ms Heylan’s trip as a ‘big black mark for the government’
Ms Haylen admitted on Sunday the indulgence ‘does not pass the pub test’ and promised to foot the bill.
‘I made the wrong decision here. I apologise for it,’ she told reporters.
‘In this instance it’s not about the rules it’s about the public expectation which I failed to meet.’
But on Monday the storm over her taxpayer-funded trips kept growing. There were fresh revelations about her use of ministerial drivers – she had also used the government car for a family lunch west of the Blue Mountains, and for a kids’ sports run between Caves Beach and Sydney.
Ms Haylen went to ground, with her furious boss, Premier Chris Minns, speaking on her behalf.
On Tuesday, Mr Minns was left gobsmacked over his transport minister’s spending when 2GB Breakfast Host Ben Fordham claimed her trip to a winery on the taxpayer’s dime was just the tip of the iceberg.
‘What are you going to do, if as I’m informed, another example comes out involving her driver that took her on another winery/wine-tasting trip last year, that lasted longer than the 13-hour trip over the Australia Day long weekend?’ Mr Fordham asked.
‘I’m at a disadvantage, I don’t know about the circumstances in which you’re presenting them to me,’ Mr Minns replied.
On Tuesday, Mr Minns was left gobsmacked over his transport minister’s spending
‘Fair enough, you’re entitled to ask, but I don’t know. Obviously that would be very troubling.’
‘Have you checked with Jo whether there was another winery trip?’ said Mr Fordham.
‘I mean I checked whether there were other incidents or examples, as did the media, I take her at her word,’ responded Mr Minns.
Mr Fordham said he believed a new revelation may soon come to light, leaving Chris Minns visibly stunned.
‘Of course, I’d be very concerned if there was another example,’ he said.
Mr Minns admitted that the Hunter Valley trip was ‘indefensible’.
‘I think this is very damaging. Obviously, this is a big black mark for the government.’
But he defended Ms Heylan’s use of the car for a weekend sports run, saying she headed to work afterwards, and ‘then it was a work day following that’.
On Monday there were fresh revelations about Ms Heylan’s use of ministerial drivers
In her resignation statement on Tuesday afternoon, Ms Heyland said: ‘I want to put on the record, I did also take a trip last year with my husband to the Hunter Valley.
‘It was not the same circumstances as on the 25th of January. I was working on that day, but I acknowledge that the use of my personal driver was an error of judgement by me.
‘My mistakes are now causing my government damage. Politics is tough. Expectations are very high. I know that.’
She added that ‘from the very minute I was been appointed a Minister, I’ve worked my arse off’.
Conservative commentator Prue Macsween told Daily Mail Australia prior to Ms Heylan’s resignation that given the commuter chaos in Sydney, her junket to the Hunter Valley was ‘cynical and disgraceful’.
‘She’s showing contempt – she’s showing an elitist attitude,’ Ms Macsween said.
‘She’s from the socialist Left faction of the Labor Party, and here she is swanning around with no accountability to the public.
‘When Minns says she’s got a lack of judgment, well how’s her judgment on anything else? Her sense of entitlement is astounding.’
Conservative commentator Prue Macsween told Daily Mail Australia that Ms Haylen’s junket was ‘cynical and disgraceful’
According to the official log of the Hunter Valley trip, the government-operated Kia Carnival left Sydney at 8am on January 25 to pick up Ms Haylen and her husband Garth William at their Caves Beach holiday home on the NSW Central Coast north of Sydney.
The vehicle also picked up NSW Housing Minister Rose Jackson, her husband Sam Crosby and two other friends.
The group travelled to Brokenwood Estate, roughly an hour’s drive further north at Pokolbin in the Hunter Valley.
There, they enjoyed a three-hour lunch at the winery’s restaurant The Wood, which has a set menu of $105 per person before wines are paired.
When the lunch was finally over, the driver drove the group back to the Caves Beach house. He then drove back to Sydney and finished at 9pm.
