NSW Minister Rose Jackson said she should have talked about the use of ministerial driver by Jo Haylen

NSW Minister Rose Jackson said she should have said something when she jumped into a government car organized by former Minister of Transport Jo Haylen to go for a private birthday lunch.

Prime Minister Chris Minns said that Ms. Haylen’s position had become “not tenable” after revealing that she had used drivers funded by taxpayers for two private trips to the Hunter valley, including one on the weekend of the weekend Australia Day to celebrate Ms. Jackson’s birthday.

Haylen resigned from the ministry on Tuesday afternoon.

Ms. Jackson said that she had been recovered at Caves Beach and had seen that it was a ministerial car and driver, but “did not think about it”.

“I indicated that I accept the responsibility of this, I spoke to the Prime Minister and really determined to continue my work.”

Ms. Jackson said that she and Mrs. Haylen were “best friends” and that she had “no knowledge” of lunch plans and played no role in the organization of the event.

“I just appreciated a lunch with my friends and the accepted responsibility of Jo and I paid a very high price for that,” she said.

She said that her lunch had been paid by other guests and that she had not used her ministerial car rights for only personal reasons.

During her first appearance since Ms. Haylen resigned on Tuesday, Mr. Minns said that if the circumstances of the second trip were different, they still did not justify the use of a driver.

“The circumstances were different, there was work that had taken place mainly by phone and on Zoom,” he said.

“There was certainly work that day, but not enough to justify a personal driver.

Mr. Minns said that no rule was breaking, the use by Ms. Haylen of ministerial drivers “has not shown great judgment”, in particular when she kept her driver pending.

But he said that the “big mistake” did not reflect who is Ms. Haylen.

“She would treat the King of England and a brand new intern in the same way … It is simply not a reflection of who she is,” he said.

“I just think it must be part of the story here.”

Mr. Minns said he would not speculate on who could take the work of Mrs. Haylen or if there would be a broader reshuffle of the cabinet.

“I’m going to talk to my colleagues and make a decision together,” he said.

The Minister of Roads, John Graham, will temporarily take the Minister of Transport.

Planning Minister Paul Scully said ABC Radio Sydney said it was a “difficult portfolio” and that he “impatiently waited” from working with Mr. Graham.

Minns says that other ministers have used drivers appropriately

Mr. Minns said that he would not order an audit of the ministerial use of drivers to discover other cases of abusive use, because it would be found that Ms. Haylen operated in the rules.

However, he said that he had a discussion with the ministers of his cabinet on the appropriate use of ministerial drivers and was convinced that they had done the right thing.

Minns said the ministers used drivers for personal questions, he said there was no indication that they had been used in the same way as Ms. Haylen’s trips.

“I should have changed the rules on the first day … We waited two years, and it was a mistake that I made in terms of guaranteeing that the rules are simple,” he said.

“But I am convinced that I have changed these rules that we can restore a measure of confidence and confidence for taxpayers.”

Ms. Jackson said that the directives update is “exactly the right thing to do”.

The vice-minister Prue Carr said that ABC Radio Sydney modifies the rules concerning the use of ministerial drivers “clearly indicated” that they could only be used for commercial purposes.

She said that the problem with current rules is that they are open to interpretation.

“The problem is that it was based on individual judgment because technically the rules were really, very wide. And they have obviously been like that for some time,” she said.

“The rules should not have been the way they were, to be honest, because they are too open to interpretation.”

Haylen did not ask to repay the cost of the second hunter’s trip

Mr. Minns said that Ms. Haylen had paid a “personal and professional grand prize” for the error and said that he would not ask her to reimburse the cost of Hunter Valley’s second trip.

“She paid a large financial, personal and professional penalty for this, not only in terms of career, but in terms of office wages,” he said.

When he announced his resignation on his use of drivers funded by taxpayers for private trips, Ms. Haylen admitted a second visit to Hunter Valley.

She said that this last trip was a different situation for a trip to a cellar on the weekend of Australia day with the Minister of Housing, Rose Jackson.

It has also been revealed that she had used government drivers to transport her, as well as her children, between her holiday home at Lake Macquarie and Sydney for Saturday Sport.

The outgoing minister said that she had deposited the children on the job of the work, according to the Prime Minister.

Ms. Haylen’s children also accompanied her in a ministerial car in a property west of Blue Mountains for lunch, a visit she insisted was “linked to work,” said the Prime Minister.

Ms. Haylen did not respond to the day, in place of an emotional declaration after days of pressure for her dismissal.

“I have not broken the rules, but I recognize that this is not the only test here,” she said.

“I dropped the audience, and I’m really sorry for that.”