Steak tartare, wood-fired squid: The boozy lunch behind Haylen’s expenses controversy

Steak tartare and wood-fired squid were on the menu when Jo Haylen dined at a popular Hunter Valley winery on Australia Day. The boozy lunch is at the heart of an expenses controversy after she road-tripped up there on the taxpayer’s dime.

Brokenwood Wines. Picture: Supplied.

A boozy lunch at a popular Hunter Valley winery, complete with steak tartare and wood-fired squid is at the centre of an expenses controversy after embattled Transport Minister Jo Haylen summoned a taxpayer-funded ministerial driver to chauffeur her and five friends for a private Australia Day get together.

Premier Chris Minns dressed down Ms Haylen on Sunday, one of his closest political allies, after The Daily Telegraph revealed she had organised for her ministerial driver to take the party, which included Housing Minister Rose Jackson, from Ms Haylen’s Caves Beach holiday home to lunch at The Wood Restaurant at Brokenwood Estate.

Mr Minns said he would review the rules around private use of the taxpayer funded drivers 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.”

Minister for Transport Jo Haylen answers questions about using a taxpayer funded driver to go to a boozy winery lunch. Picture Thomas Lisson

Exterior view of Brokenwood Wines in Pokolbin. Photo: Supplied

The driver clocked a 446km round trip, leaving in a Kia Carnival at 8am on January 25 from his Rockdale home to pick up Ms Haylen, Ms Jackson, Ms Haylen’s husband Garth Williams, Ms Jackson’s husband Sam Crosby and two other friends at Caves Beach.

The driver waited three hours while they finished their meal before dropping them back at the holiday house by 4pm, returning to Rockdale almost 13 hours later at 8:50pm.

The menu from The Wood restaurant, at Brokenwood winery in the NSW Hunter Valley. Picture: Supplied

The menu from The Wood restaurant, at Brokenwood winery in the NSW Hunter Valley. Picture: Supplied.

During the lunch at The Wood Restaurant where a basic set menu starts at $105 per person, multiple bottles of wine were ordered of both white and red including a Brokenwood Semillon.

The party shared plates of steak tartare, grilled sashimi grade squid, grain fed steak and steamed broccoli.

Minister Haylen’s party had steak tartare from The Wood Restaurant at Brokenwood Winery in the NSW Hunter Valley. Picture: Supplied

Pictures from The Wood, the restaurant at Brokenwood Winery in the NSW Hunter Valley. Picture: Supplied

Ms Haylen apologised on Sunday for the use of the driver and promised to pay back the $750 trip.

Ms Haylen said the driver had been organised the day prior and confirmed all members of the party had been drinking at the restaurant. While ministers are entitled to use ministerial cars and drivers for private use, Ms Haylen said the incident “didn’t pass the pub test”.

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

When asked if she had used her taxpayer-funded ministerial driver to chauffeur 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.”

Ms Haylen said in hindsight she should have called an Uber. An hour-long Uber trip from her Caves Beach house to the Brokenwood Estate near Pokolbin would have cost close to $150 each way, a significantly cheaper cost than the $750 the Transport Minister will need to repay.

Ms Haylen’s actions have outraged her Labor colleagues, many of whom told The Daily Telegraph on Sunday they were astonished by Ms Haylen’s outrageous “entitlement” and “disrespect” for her driver who had to wait while her companions enjoyed their meal.

“I wouldn’t even do that to an Uber driver,” one said.

“This doesn’t just fail the pub test, it doesn’t even get to the pub, let alone the cellar.”

Another Labor MP questioned why she would risk her political career over “such a dumbass thing”.

Ministerial driver shifts over 12 hours require a signed risk safety assessment and additional check-ins. Despite the vehicle logbook registering a 13-hour trip, a spokesperson from the Premier’s Department said the driver’s shift did not exceed 12 hours, meaning no safety assessment was required.

NSW Opposition leader Mark Speakman called on both Ms Haylen and Ms Jackson to resign over the use of the ministerial vehicle for their boozy winery lunch. Photographer: Ted Lamb

NSW Opposition leader Mark Speakman called on both Ms Haylen and Ms Jackson to resign over the use of the ministerial vehicle for their boozy winery lunch.

Mr Speakman called the use of the Kia van “an abuse of taxpayer funds”.

“Those ministers must have known,” he said.

“Rose Jackson and Jo Haylen must resign … Haylen organised the vehicle but Rose Jackson is clearly complicit in what happened.

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

Ms Jackson has previously said she believes the date of Australia Day should be changed.

“It’s not a date that really works for me,” she said back in 2023.

Originally published as Steak tartare, wood-fired squid: The boozy lunch behind Haylen’s expenses controversy