$75 per hour: Cost of Jo ‘Van’ Haylen’s winery trip revealed

Fresh details about Jo Haylen’s winery trip can be revealed and it seems Premier Chris Minns’ department may have handed her a “heavily discounted bill”.

Former Transport Minister Jo Haylen only reimbursed taxpayers for 10 hours’ worth of a private car and driver she used for a boozy lunch in the Hunter Valley – despite her driver logging an almost 13-hour shift.

Premier Chris Minns’ department has now been accused of giving Ms Haylen a “heavily discounted bill” to cover the ill-fated trip which ran her ministerial career off the road.

The Daily Telegraph can now reveal fresh details about Ms Haylen’s use of a ministerial car and driver on the Australia Day long weekend, contained in documents obtained under freedom of information laws.

Premier’s Department emails reveal an official asked for Ms Haylen to be invoiced a total of $750 for the 13-hour, 446km driving shift.

That is despite the Saturday cost of a car and driver being calculated at $75 per hour.

Jo Haylen resigned as Transport Minister over her use of her Ministerial car and driver. Photo Jeremy Piper

The email was sent at 8.22am on February 3, the day after The Sunday Telegraph revealed the trip, and the day after Ms Haylen declared she’d repay the cost “in full”.

“The Premier’s Department has informed me that the cost is $750, and as soon as I receive an invoice from the Premier’s Department I will pay that in full,” Ms Haylen said on February 2.

The documents reveal that drivers are paid $34.94 per hour, while vehicle expenses are charged at $20 per hour.

Transport Minister Jo Haylen summonsed her ministerial driver to drive up to collect her up the coast before escorting her to and from private lunch at what ended up being a 446 kilometre roundtrip.

Drivers receive time-and-a-half on Saturdays, and double time on Sundays and public holidays.

On Saturdays, a car and driver costs $75 per hour, and on Sundays it costs $95 per hour.

Ms Haylen’s chauffeur drove from Rockdale to take her and her friends to Brokenwood winery in the Hunter Valley on January 25, with the group picked up from Ms Haylen’s Caves Beach holiday house.

Ms Haylen’s use of her Ministerial driver forced Premier Chris Minns to change the rules. Photo Jeremy Piper

Cabinet minister Rose Jackson was also in the car; the outing was organised as a surprise to celebrate Ms Jackson’s 40th birthday.

Driver logs obtained by The Sunday Telegraph revealed the driver started work at 8am and finished at 8.50pm.

Despite the log book entry, a Premier’s Department spokesman has previously told The Daily Telegraph that the hours the driver worked “did not exceed 12 hours.” No documents have yet been released showing how the $750 cost was calculated.

Ms Haylen said her use of the driver was not against the rules but did not meet community expectations. Picture: NewsWire/ Gaye Gerard

The Premier’s Department previously said that Ms Haylen’s driver took “mandatory breaks” during the 13-hour shift.

On Tuesday, a spokesman said drivers were required to take breaks “after every five hours of continuous work”. They are also eligible for unpaid meal breaks.

Asked about the calculations, Liberal Treasury spokesman Damien Tudehope accused the government of maintaining a shroud of secrecy over the trip.

“So much of the Haylen winery trip is still a mystery, including how the former minister came to pay back $750,” he said.

“The Premier needs to explain why his department issued a heavily discounted bill to the former Minister for Transport to cover her birthday surprise for minister Jackson,” he said.

Originally published as $75 per hour: Cost of Jo ‘Van’ Haylen’s winery trip revealed