The NSW Premier is refusing to audit frontbenchers' use of government chauffeurs after taxpayer-funded travel to wineries led to the downfall of his transport minister. Chris Minns insists no one else in his cabinet has misused personal drivers in a similar way. Meanwhile, another minister who attended the now-infamous long lunch has finally broken her silence.
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00:00See you all soon.
00:03With Jo Halen refusing to take questions, her boss was left to fill in the blanks about
00:08her second taxpayer-funded ride to a Hunter Valley vineyard.
00:11There was work that took place in Orkanda, mainly over the phone and on Zoom.
00:18It was this jaunt with her husband last year that ultimately falls to resignation.
00:22She's paid a big financial, personal and professional penalty for this, a massive one.
00:31Not just in terms of career, but also in terms of her salary of office.
00:36Stripped of her senior minister salary and allowances, she'll be hit with a pay cut of
00:40almost 50 per cent.
00:42She'd already promised to foot the $750 bill for a ministerial driver chauffeuring her
00:47and friends to a winery lunch last month.
00:50In the van was Housing Minister Rose Jackson, whose birthday they were celebrating.
00:54Obviously with the benefit of hindsight, I probably should have said something, but at
01:00the time I didn't think about it because I was excited by the surprise birthday and a
01:05surprise lunch.
01:06There's still more reflux to come for the government, with Roads Minister John Graham
01:10walking into a bitter pay dispute with the rail unions when he's sworn in as acting transport
01:14minister on Friday.
01:16Industrial action is set to resume next Wednesday.
01:19Electrical workers have planned stoppages, which they say won't impact train travellers.
01:24Drivers will operate trains at slower speeds for two weeks because the government won't
01:28refund fares charged during last month's network meltdown.
01:32Instead, the government is offering a fare-free day once a deal is done.
01:36Any strike action or even the threat of industrial action poses a huge problem for business.
01:42We lose confidence in the CBD, people stop coming in.
01:45The ABC understands an ongoing replacement for Ms Halen won't be announced until mid-March.