Haylen has been under fire over the revelations that she used a ministerial driver to attend a private lunch at Brokenwood Winery in the Hunter Valley on January 25.
She today apologised and said she would step down from the portfolio.
“As I said on Sunday, I’ve made some mistakes, people aren’t perfect, I did not break the rules but I acknowledge that’s not the only test here,” she said.
“I’ve let the public down, and I’m very sorry for that.
“We were elected to be better than the last government.
“This morning I’ve told the premier that I will resign my position as minister for transport.”
Details emerged earlier this week that Haylen had used her ministerial driver to travel 446km from Sydney to her holiday house at Caves Beach.
The driver also took her and Housing Minister Rose Jackson, along with their husbands and two friends, to the private lunch at Brokenwood Winery in the Hunter Valley the day before Australia Day.
The driver waited three hours for them to finish eating before dropping them back to Caves Beach and returning to Sydney over 13 hours later.
The transport minister said she would foot the $750 bill for the trip.
Since the first revelations about the winery trip, further claims have been made about Haylen’s use of the driver, including to take her children to Saturday sport.
She admitted today that she had also used her driver for a second trip to the Hunter Valley but under different circumstances.
“I did take a trip last year with my husband to the Hunter Valley, it was not the same circumstances as the 25th of January, I was working that day,” Haylen said.
“I do want to acknowledge the use of my personal driver was an error in judgement by me.
“My mistakes are now causing my government damage.”
Haylen will still retain her role as the Member for Summer Hill.
Earlier today, Premier Chris Minns called Haylen’s actions “indefensible”, but said he wouldn’t fire her from the transport portfolio.
He later released a statement addressing the resignation and policy changes around ministerial drivers.
“This morning, Minister Haylen advised me that she intends to resign as the Minister for Transport, and I have accepted her resignation,” he said.
“While this was clearly an error of judgement, there are also too many grey areas where private and public uses blur.
“Jo has paid a high price for that.
“I want to thank Jo for her service to the people of New South Wales.
“The best way to fix this is to change the rules, and that is what I have done today… All Ministers must comply with the policy which will take effect immediately.”
The changes mean ministerial drivers can now only be able to be used for official business or private purposes “if the use is incidental to the discharge of the Minister’s official duties”.
Haylen was appointed transport minister after Labor’s win in the March 2023 election.
The recent controversy is not the first time Haylen has come under fire.
It emerged in August 2023 that Haylen had picked former Labor staffer Josh Murray for transport secretary after her office intervened to add him to the list of candidates.
Documents uncovered last year showed Haylen had passed over senior transport executive Benedicte Colin, who was found to be “highly suitable” for the position, in favour of Murray.
