Last week, NSW Transport Minister Jo Haylen resigned after it was revealed that she had used her taxpayer-funded ministerial car and driver for a weekend trip to a winery.

The incident involved a 13-hour, 446km round trip for the driver, from Sydney to Haylen’s holiday house at Caves Beach, to lunch at a winery in the Hunter Valley, and then back again.

Remarkably, the trip wasn’t technically against government rules for using the ministerial car, but it was deemed contrary to the “pub test.” It also appeared to be the last straw in a longer list of questionable uses of the ministerial car, from dropping her children at a sports game to other trips to her holiday home.

 In her resignation speech, Haylen appealed to the “all in” nature of the role and the inevitability of combining work and motherhood. “You don’t switch on and off from being a minister,” she said. “You don’t switch off from being a mum either. Combining the two can be difficult, but I’m far from alone when it comes to that daily challenge.”

This, undoubtedly, is why there is some leeway in the rules. If Haylen’s transgressions had been limited to dropping her children at school or a sports game on the way to a sporting event, would anyone have called for her resignation? We very much doubt it.

The problem, however, is that her actions were not primarily about her children or the pressures of motherhood and the demands of a political job. Instead, they highlight the broader issue of declining trust in government.

To the everyday Australian, who may be struggling to pay their mortgage or feed their family, a politician who can a) afford a holiday house and b) thinks it is acceptable to use taxpayer dollars for an afternoon of sipping wine in the sun creates a troubling image.

This undermines the hard work we’re sure Haylen does and makes her appear as a stereotype of a lazy, entitled politician focused on personal gain rather than serving the public.

Trust in government in Australia has been on a slow decline since COVID. Any action that suggests a politician is prioritising their own needs over those of their constituents - fair or not - can contribute to that erosion of trust.

When we talk about integrity in politics, we’re not merely discussing transparency in political donations or truth in advertising, although both are vital. We are talking about the fundamental reasons for entering politics and the type of politician one intends to be.

One of the challenges may be that many, if not most, politicians enter politics for the right reasons. They want to serve and see politics as a means to effect real change in their community, whatever that may entail.

But as the saying goes, power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely. They attain power and begin to justify their actions - a little here and a little there. It’s a necessary step for the future of the party, for the strength of the cause, or simply because everyone else is doing it.

To reform the system, we need to break the existing structures. We need people to say no. No to corporate perks like the Chairman’s Lounge, no to long lunches in ministerial cars, no to bending the rules. It’s beyond time for real change.