The NSW Premier wants to change the rules after Transport Minister Jo Haylen used a tax-payer-funded driver to attend a private lunch.
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00:00Well, I mean, I expect everybody to comply with the rules,
00:03but I also expect everybody to show good judgment here.
00:06I think, and I want to make it clear,
00:09I'm certainly not coming here today and saying,
00:12because this is an incident complied with the rules,
00:16it's OK, it's not.
00:17It's bad judgment by any stretch of the imagination.
00:21With that in mind, I think the best thing I can do
00:23is look at changing the rules to ensure that this isn't done again
00:28and that the public can have confidence
00:30that it doesn't come down to a judgment called by a minister.
00:33It's just not allowed.
00:34How are you changing the rules?
00:35Maddy?
00:36How are you changing...?
00:37What do you deem to be acceptable to the government?
00:39Should ministers use ministerial drivers for any kind of function?
00:43Ministerial drivers...
00:44I mean, the first point here is it's a privilege to have a driver.
00:49It's certainly not a right.
00:51And all drivers need to be treated with respect.
00:54And the job of a driver
00:56is to help the minister in their role.
00:58And there may be a point in time for a busy minister's life
01:03that the kids are dropped off at school on the way to the office
01:07with the minister in the car.
01:09Now, that would be done so that my ministers can work even harder
01:13on behalf of New South Wales taxpayers.
01:14I think that there's a world of difference between that
01:17and organising for a trip up the North Coast
01:19for a purely private function.
01:22But there are rules that we're drafting up
01:24that we need to get in place.
01:25I don't have them with me today,
01:27but I need to make sure that they're in place
01:29so it doesn't happen again,
01:30and that these incidents aren't reliant on just good judgement.
01:35They're not allowed.