Jo Haylen used taxpayer-funded van and driver for a Hunter winery trip with friends

Opposition Leader Mark Speakman has called on Transport Minister Jo Haylen and Housing Minster Rose Jackson to resign after Ms Haylen booked a driver to travel from Sydney to take them to a Hunter winery.

Transport Minister Jo Haylen is under pressure after it was as revealed she ordered a driver to travel from Sydney to Canves Beach then drop her and some friends at a Hunter winery. Picture: Sam Ruttyn

Premier Chris Minns has slammed Transport Minister Jo Haylen for the use of a taxpayer-funded ministerial driver for a boozy Hunter Valley lunch.

Mr Minns said he would look at changing the rules around private use of the vehicles in the future to prevent further occurrences.

“This is clearly unacceptable,” he said

“It’s not on for drivers to be used in this way. I’ve asked the Cabinet Office to provide advice on changing the guidelines so this can’t happen again.”

He did not respond to opposition call to sack the ministers involved.

This comes as Ms Haylen apologised for being chauffeured along with Minister Rose Jackson and four other friends to a boozy Australia Day lunch at Brokenwood winery.

Ms Haylen called the decision to use the driver “a mistake” and has promised to pay back the $750 trip.

Ms Haylen said the driver had been organised in the day prior and said all members of the party had been drinking at the restaurant.

While the lunch went for three hours Ms Haylen said she did not keep the driver waiting very long while they dined returning to her Caves Beach holiday home after 4pm.

“After we returned, he left and I didn’t keep him waiting,” she said.

“I made the wrong decision here. I apologise for it.”

Ministers are entitled to use ministerial cars and drivers for private use.

When asked if she had used her taxpayer-funded ministerial driver to chauffer her from private parties in the past she said she could not say.

“I don’t recall that, however, I can’t say that definitively. There are grey areas and our jobs are 24/7,” she said.

“In this instance it’s not about the rules it’s about the public expectation which I failed to meet.”

NSW Transport Minister Jo Haylen. Picture: NewsWire / Nikki Short

Earlier, NSW Opposition leader Mark Speakman called on the two government ministers to resign after The Sunday Telegraph revealed Ms Haylen summoned the taxpayer-funded driver to chauffeur her and five friends, including Ms Jackson, to a Hunter Valley winery on Australia Day.

The venue where they spent a three-hour lunch can now be revealed to be a restaurant at Brokenwood winery in the Hunter Valley.

Ms Haylen along with her husband Garth William, Ms Jackson, her husband Sam Crosby and two other friends travelled to a Hunter Valley winery on the taxpayer dollar for a lunch at the Wood Restaurant around midday on January 25.

Transport Minister Jo Haylen commissioned the driver. Picture: Sam Ruttyn

Ms Jackson was not party to the booking, but was driven to the lunch. Picture: NewsWire/ Gaye Gerard

Sources close to the event confirmed the lunch lasted nearly three hours before the group were driven back to Ms Haylen’s Caves Beach holiday home.

All members of the party drank throughout the lunch.

Ms Jackson was not party to the booking of the car but joined the ride to lunch.

During the lunch, Haylen’s driver was required to sit and wait hours while the party ate and drank before driving them home

Mark Speakman called for the resignation of both ministers.

Mr Speakman said he felt the use of the Kia van “an abuse of taxpayer funds”.

“Rose Jackson and Jo Haylen must resign,” he said.

“This is also a test for Chris Minns, if his ministers don’t resign he has to sack them.”

While rules governing ministerial drivers and vehicles allow for both public and private use, many of the drivers are privately outraged on behalf of their colleague, who worked a 13-hour day on the trip.

When questioned by The Sunday Telegraph Ms Haylen conceded the trip didn’t “pass the pub test” and immediately offered to repay the cost.

In a statement to The Sunday Telegraph, Ms Haylen said she had attended a ­“private event” on the day.

She also noted that the guidelines for ministerial drivers and cars stated that they could be used for both official and private purposes.

“I attended a private event on January 25,” she said.

“Cars and drivers may be used for official and private purposes as is stated within the official guidelines.

“I recognise, however, that this does not pass the pub test, and as such I have made ­arrangements to repay the money to the Premier’s Department.”

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Originally published as Jo Haylen used taxpayer-funded van and driver for a Hunter winery trip with friends