EDITORIAL: Age of entitlement persists in our parliaments

It’s a scenario we’ve seen play out countless times.

Politician gets caught out making creative use of their parliamentary entitlements.

Then follow the protestations from that red-faced politician that everything was “within the rules”, but as a show of good faith, they’ll cop the bill anyway.

Halfhearted assurances from the boss that the guilty party had been reprimanded, made to see the error of their ways and is now prepared to turn over a new leaf.

Then, revelations that this wasn’t an isolated incident after all condemn the offender to a spell on the backbench.

It’s a script more predictable than a Lacey Chabert-led Netflix Christmas film.

The starring role in this instalment of the franchise is played by NSW Transport Minister Jo Haylen, who was caught out making use of a ministerial driver to shuttle her and a group of mates — including Housing Minister Rose Jackson — to a boozy Australia Day weekend long lunch.

As Ms Haylen pointed out, technically, she had broken no rules.

In some sort of anachronistic hangover from a time when boozy business lunches were an expected part of many jobs, ministers are perfectly entitled to have a taxpayer-funded driver pull a 13-hour shift on a long weekend to act as designated driver. It’s just a perk of the gig.

They’re also entitled to direct drivers to drop the kids off at sport as Ms Haylen has also admitted doing, or pick up the dry cleaning, a la NSW Opposition Leader Mark Speakmen.

No wonder Australian voters are totally disillusioned with their political system when our leaders are regularly taking the piss, thinking our money is theirs to spend.

Every other industry has moved on from this sort of entitled behaviour from higher-ups. It’s not the 80s anymore anywhere except in our parliaments, where the mentality of grab whatever you can with both hands — free DDs and flight upgrades for example — persists.

It’s now emerged that Ms Haylen had also enlisted a driver for an earlier wine tour to the Hunter Valley with her husband. That revelation was enough to convince her to fall on her sword.

“I have made mistakes — people aren’t perfect. I did not break the rules, but I acknowledge that that’s not the only test here. I’ve let the public down and I’m very sorry for that,” she said.

“I was working on that day, but I acknowledge that the use of my personal driver was an error of judgment by me. My mistakes are now causing my Government damage.”

She’ll now serve out her penance on a backbencher’s salary of $172,000 (plus allowances) which should be enough to cover her share of the maxi taxi on future Hunter Valley jaunts.

Her boss, NSW Premier Chris Minns, has promised to change the rules to stop piss-taking like that of Ms Haylen, by limiting the use of ministerial vehicles to “official business purposes”, though the occasional “incidental” private detour will still be permissible.

But we’re guessing it won’t be too long before we see this old story play out yet again.