Murray Olds: Australian correspondent on NSW transport minister Jo Haylen using taxpayer-funded ministerial car for personal trips

Jo Haylen has quit as the New South Wales transport minister after it was revealed she used a ministerial car for personal purposes.

It recently emerged that Haylen had asked her chauffeur to take her and some friends to a winery lunch on the Australia Day holiday weekend in a 13-hour 446km round-trip.

It was also reported that Haylen used a taxpayer-funded driver to ferry herself and her children from Caves Beach to Sydney for weekend sporting events. 

 Australian correspondent Murray Olds says this isn't a good look for an MP to use a tax-payer funded vehicle for personal reasons.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Murray Olds is here our Australia correspondent. Murray, the new
South Wales Transport minister, has resigned. We spoke about this yesterday.
The use of the personal use of the ministerial car
has got her.

Speaker 2 (00:12):
That has Indeed, they're very good afternoon. Not the first
minister to fall in this way. It's as though when
you've become elected to a state or federal parliament, all
of a sudden your hands sort of stopped short of
your own wallet because guess who's paying the bills, taxpayers.
I'm not saying that is differently the case in the
case of Joe Hayman. I've interviewed to probably have it

(00:33):
as in a dozen times. You know, she's mid early forties,
a mum, and as we all know that anyone who
has covered politics and you know any way at all,
you know how hard MPs do work. I know it's
easy to bag them, but particularly ministers. It's twenty four

(00:54):
to seven and she was caught out. Well, let me
just to sit the stay. She's been in for two years,
for almost all of that time a very bitter dispute
with the Combined Rail unions who were demanding twenty five
percent pay rise. On the Australia Day Long weekend, she
and a bunch of friends took a government van from

(01:14):
her holiday home up to the Hunter Valley for a
long lunch. The government driver had a thirteen hour day
and she had to repay seven hundred and fifty bucks
when this came to light. Then she find we learn
as taxpayers the driver has been dropping off her children
the weekend's sport as he's been taking her down to

(01:34):
Sydney for the Parliament, for her parliamentary work and ministerial work.
And now there's the third indiscretion, another Hunter of belly
get away, this time with a hobby. So she's gone
this afternoon. But there are two questions here where did
all the information come from? It was leaked to the media,
and I guess I'll be knocking on the door of
the Combined Rail Union for a lot of this. And

(01:56):
the second question is, let's now see the logbooks of
every menu of every MP, because they've all got perks
and lurks. Let's see how a lot of them spending
are spending our money, because it's not gonna find to
the New South Wales Parliament, you'll find it's the same
in New Zealand, same in Queensland, Salmon, Britain. They're all
on the public teat.

Speaker 1 (02:16):
In her defense, Murray, could you not argue because she
was Minister of Transport right that she was just you know,
she was being transported.

Speaker 2 (02:24):
Oh good luck with that one. Yeah, I don't think
it's gonna fly.

Speaker 1 (02:30):
Hey, the Aussie football is and Sam Kerr on Trumper
racially aggravated harassment. We've all seen this video. That's been
seen video.

Speaker 2 (02:38):
I mean, look, it's a bad look for one of
the most high profile women in world's sport. I mean
she is one of the most hope, well, she's certainly
the highest profile female athlete in Australia right now. We've
had Kathy Freeman of course in the past and others
like that. But Sam Kerr is a household name over here.

(02:58):
She earns three million bucks plus a year. So for
the London taxi driver to suggest for a second that
he was frightened they weren't going to pay her, well
pay him, Well, that's just ridiculous. But we've all seen
the video. It looks terrible. Apparently a curR has vomited
in a taxi on the way home after a big
night out with her partner. The taxi driver is insisting

(03:21):
they pay up, but they're having a fight. He rings
the cops and starts driving off to twicken And police
station in London. The women in the back know that
they're not going to their home, so she's on the
phone as well, and when they pull up outside the
cop shop, there are two other police officers who just
got back from another job. Helloa la lallo, the old
sort of standard approach, and all of a sudden, Sam

(03:42):
Kerr is saying as she's accusing the guy of being
white and using that word in a very derogatory way,
to the point where the police officer arrests her and
charge and charges her with racial vilification. So this isn't
about vomiting in a taxi that's been cleared up. The
women are arguing that they felt they were being abducted

(04:03):
and kidnapped. The driver says he was frightened because he
had these these women bommiting and shouting and carrying on
the back seat. But basically the prosecutions told the court,
Miss Kerr, identifies as white Anglo Indian, was obviously upset
and angry about what happened and how the police were
handling it. But it's unless she became abusive and insulting
and specifically insulted the police officer by reference to his

(04:24):
ethnicity by E's white and the issues. According to the prosecution,
it's not about what she said, but it's what she
meant by what she said, and how did that make
the policeman feel? So go figure, there's a wee way
to go on this.

Speaker 1 (04:37):
Yet, how was he feeling about it? Because you know,
if you were to flip the script and use the
you know, if it was the other way around, I'm
sure there would be a huge outrage about it. How Yeah, no.

Speaker 2 (04:51):
Kidding, I mean, is it simply a case of another athlete.
I mean, hello, the rugby league season starts in a minute,
und into a brick, someone's up before the court inside
the first month. I mean, it's it's just the way
it's like leaves changing color in autumn. So yeah, I mean,
that's a good point you make. But Sam Kerr has

(05:11):
it going down here? Well look, I'm not sure. I
haven't really taken the temperature, but certainly she's a much
loved figure here. I think a lot of people would
be sympathetic towards him.

Speaker 1 (05:18):
Yeah, Murray, thank you for that. Murray Old's are Australia correspondent.
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