Jetting to the wineries: NSW Nationals leader took RFS plane to Hunter Valley

The NSW Rural Fire Service Commissioner approved a trip in a taxpayer-funded plane for Nationals leader Dugald Saunders to fly from his electorate in Dubbo to the Hunter Valley to visit a series of wineries.

Saunders, then agriculture minister in the former Coalition government, was the only passenger on the 34-minute flight from Dubbo to RAAF Base Williamtown near Newcastle in August 2022.

The now-NSW Nationals leader said the trip to the Hunter was work related and included meetings about grape fungus, workforce shortages and the impact of floods on the region’s wine production.

NSW Nationals leader Dugald Saunders Credit: Sydney Morning Herald

But the trip – which included a wine tour and gifts of alcohol – raised eyebrows within the government. Later, the then deputy premier Paul Toole issued a general warning about the appropriate use of RFS planes by all ministers. The warning didn’t make specific reference to Saunders.

The RFS has confirmed its commissioner, Rob Rogers, approved the use of the Cessna for Saunders to be “dropped off” in the Hunter because of a diary clash which would have prevented the then-minister from also attending the opening of a memorial garden for firefighters in his Dubbo electorate.

A social media post from De Iuliis Wines featuring now-Nationals leader Dugald Saunders.Credit: Facebook

Saunders’ two-day trip over Friday and Saturday to the Hunter Valley included a winery tour and tasting at De Iuliis winery in Pokolbin, as well as visits to Agnew Wines and an “industry roundtable”, according to social media posts and his ministerial diary disclosures.

He defended the use of the RFS plane, saying Rogers offered it. The Hunter Valley trip came “off the back of an incredibly wet year” and included food industry roundtables and meetings.

“Issues discussed include botrytis and the need to work with the federal government around APVMA approvals for certain chemical use, workforce shortages and weather-related issues that placed the entire year’s production at risk,” a spokesman for Saunders said.

Several sources within the current and former governments said the use of the plane for a routine meeting outside the emergency service portfolio – as well as a winery tour with his wife – was unusual.

Toole, then leader of the NSW Nationals and deputy premier, later issued a directive to Steph Cooke, then the emergency services minister, about appropriate use of RFS-owned aircraft.

Cooke, now a member of the shadow frontbench, also attended the memorial garden opening alongside senior emergency services executives and Rogers. She declined to comment on whether she was involved in approving the trip.

Asked about the letter, Toole told the Herald: “If concerns were raised I would’ve reinforced my expectations.”

Ministerial diaries show Saunders visited the De Iuliis winery in Pokolbin on August 6. In a social media post, De Iuliis thanked Saunders “and his lovely wife Karen joined us for a winery tour and tasting of our wines”. He also met Agnew Wines.

His ministerial gift register entries show he received gifts of wine with an estimated value of less than $500 from De Iuliis and Tyrrells during the trip.

The revelation will put significant pressure on the Nationals’ leader less than a month after the resignation of former transport minister Jo Haylen over the use of a ministerial driver to take her to the Hunter Valley for lunch at a winery over the Australia Day weekend.

Haylen’s resignation, which came after she admitted to using a ministerial vehicle for a second winery trip with her husband, led Premier Chris Minns to reform the use of taxpayer-owned cars and drivers.

Senior sources in both Labor and the former Coalition government said the accepted use of RFS planes was restricted to emergencies such as the Lismore floods and not general travel by ministers and their staff.

In a statement, an RFS spokesman said the plane was initially meant to travel from Dubbo to Broken Hill after two events in Dubbo.

But after Saunders “expressed his disappointment” he would not be able to attend the second event – the opening of a memorial garden – due to “a prior commitment in the Hunter Valley”, Rogers offered to reroute the flight via Williamtown.

When the pilot expressed concerns about “strong winds” and “the need to refuel”, Saunders was flown directly to Williamtown by himself before the plane returned to Dubbo just an hour later and eventually continued to western NSW.

Flight logs show he flew from Dubbo City Regional Airport on the RFS plane at 11.12am, landing at the RAAF Base Williamtown near Newcastle at 11.46am. The same plane left the airport at 12.11pm, arriving back in Dubbo at 1.04pm.

Saunders’ ministerial diaries show he spent two days in the Hunter, where he visited a handful of wineries and held an industry roundtable that included the Hunter Valley Tourism and Wine Association.

Saunders said he met his wife in the Hunter, and that they did not use a ministerial vehicle or driver on the trip.

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