Hard lesson: Chris Minns must derail the gravy train after Jo Haylen ministerial car saga

Jo Haylen’s ministerial car saga this week shows Chris Minns’ government cannot afford to be tainted by a new wave of political entitlement.

It has taken a decade for the NSW Labor Party to scrub off the stench of entitlement it found itself immersed in after a series of scandals involving high-profile ministers.

There was “Iguanagate” where then senior minister John Della Bosca and his federal MP wife Belinda Neal were accused of behaving badly at a waterfront restaurant. They both firmly denied it – staff had claimed Neal declared “Don’t you know who I am” – but the saga hurt both their careers.

There was left-wing minister Ian Macdonald, whose love of a free lunch earned him the title “Sir Lunchalot”. Macdonald would later be sentenced to 14 years in prison with a non-parole period of 10 years, after a judge found there was a high degree of criminality involved in issuing a mine licence.

He recently failed in his bid to have the conviction overturned.

Three other former Labor ministers – including jailed former powerbroker Eddie Obeid – will stand trial next year over allegations they worked to secure a public-private partnership to benefit the Obeid family while in government.

When Premier Chris Minns first learned of allegations against two of his ministers his heart would have sunk. Picture Thomas Lisson

The trio have entered pleas of not guilty to charges of wilful misconduct in public office.

When Premier Chris Minns first learned of allegations that Transport Minister Jo Haylen had sent a driver on a 446km round-trip to take her, colleague Rose Jackson and others to a winery lunch, his heart would have sunk.

A long-time member of the Labor Party and former assistant ALP secretary, Minns had a front-row seat to the train wreck that ultimately had sent the party to Opposition benches in 2011 for 12 long years.

There was a sense that Labor’s long period in power had led to inappropriate behaviour seeping into its ministerial ranks.

Surely it had not already begun?

Former NSW Minister for Transport Jo Haylen resigned from her position this week due to the inappropriate use of taxpayer-funded drivers. She was a close friend of Minns, who had helped him become leader. Picture: Richard Dobson

The Sunday Telegraph had posed questions to Ms Haylen’s office on Friday afternoon after hearing the ministerial drivers had been complaining on behalf of their colleague who had been summoned to bring up an eight-seater Carnival Kia from Sydney to chauffeur the group on the Australia Day weekend.

Ministerial drivers are known for their discretion. Minns would have known that for the drivers to be complaining so openly such that their grievances would make their way to a journalist that the matter was serious.

While the ministerial handbook states ministerial cars can be used for personal reasons – and Ms Jackson had had nothing to do with the booking of the car – every Labor operative that had become aware of the claims knew there was going to be public outrage.

Other ministers had fallen for less.

Minns knew he had a big problem. The dilemma he had was Ms Haylen was a close friend. A left-winger, she had helped him become leader when he had been up against Michael Daley. He had wanted her to be his deputy, but was unable to deliver her the role as others supporting him at the time felt she was too close, “too in his clique”. Western Sydney MP Pru Car would subsequently take the role.

While initially publicly defending Ms Haylen – the Transport Minister herself admitted the trip had not passed “the pub test” – he was deeply concerned. Sources close to the premier said by Monday it had become clear to everybody that she would unlikely survive the week.

Other trips began the emerge. The Daily Telegraph revealed that Ms Haylen used ministerial drivers for weekend sports runs and to lunch with her husband and kids at a country acreage west of the Blue Mountains owned by her then chief of staff Scott Gartrell. She argued both were for “work”.

But it was questions about a second winery trip – put to her office by The Daily Telegraph on Monday – that would end Ms Haylen’s career. After her office refused to answer the questions, 2GB’s Ben Fordham ambushed the premier on air.

Hours later, Ms Haylen would sensationally resign.

“Unfortunately from day 1 she has shown a lack of judgement,” a senior Labor figure said.

The source noted that many of Minns’ ministers were still young when Labor was last embroiled in scandal.

Page one of the Sunday Telegraph on February 2 raised concerns about Ms Haylen’s use of a taxpayer-funded ministerial driver.

Page one of the Daily Telegraph on February 3 detailed other trips in question.

“They were all still cutting their teeth,” the source said.

“Minns will remember those times. If his ministers and MPs don’t learn from this, that’s what will happen. If any minister was to do something like this in the future, Minns needs to sack them on the spot. This should be their warning.

“If the government wants to be re-elected, this is what he needs to do. The golden rule in politics is ‘it’s not the incident, it’s how you handle it’.”

The scandal has unleashed a frenzy among political operatives, with politicians from both sides accusing each other of abusing the system.

Did those MPs who disclosed free tickets to Taylor Swift/cricket/Matildas use chauffeur-driven cars to travel to the event – and does that pass the “pub test”? Are MPs using the entitlement to ferry them around private parties? Are chauffeur-driven trips to airports OK if the trip is to a music festival?

The driver log books that detailed the 446km trip are subject to multiple freedom of information requests.

Minns has vowed to clear up the “grey” area of the rules, essentially banning ministerial cars for entirely personal use.

Drivers have been sent a memo not to talk to the media. Meanwhile, rattled ministers are driving themselves to events or taking Ubers.

But the question that keep bouncing around among Labor MPs is this: How did it ever get to a point where someone would ever think it was OK to summon a taxpayer-funded driver from Sydney to a holiday house 150km away to escort a group of friends to a boozy three-hour lunch as the driver waited before the driver is forced to drive 150km back to Sydney in a 13 hour day?

“It was shocking the last time we were in government,” one Labor Party MP said.

“There was a real culture of entitlement. It might begin with a free lunch, then tickets to a concert. The freebies soon become the norm.”

It was a hard lesson, and Minns will be desperately hoping his party takes heed.

Do you have a story for The Daily Telegraph? Message 0481 056 618 or email [e-mail]

Originally published as Hard lesson: Chris Minns must derail the gravy train after Jo Haylen ministerial car saga