Van Haylen scandal rolls on: Ministerial driver keeps job after judge rules dismissal threat unjust

The ministerial driver who ferried former transport minister Jo Haylen on a 13-hour, 446-kilometre van trip for a boozy three-hour lunch in the Hunter Valley has prevented the Minns government from sacking him after a judge found the threatened dismissal unjust and unreasonable.

Industrial Relations Commission (IRC) senior commissioner Nichola Constant dismissed the Premier’s Department’s allegation against Mohammed Nazmul Huda, including that he engaged in “concealment, dishonesty or deliberate record deletion”.

The attempt to fire Huda came in June after Jonathan Alt, an external investigator engaged by the government, substantiated eight of 12 allegations levelled against the driver. Much of the department’s case consisted of allegations that Huda passed on information about Haylen’s trips to the Hunter Valley and her holiday home in Caves Beach without permission.

For the trip to Brokenwood Winery in January last year, Huda picked up Haylen and five guests, including Housing Minister Rose Jackson, from Caves Beach and chauffeured the party to the lunch in a Kia Carnival. Haylen resigned from the cabinet in February after reports emerged detailing she used a ministerial driver for a second winery trip.

Constant concluded that the Premier’s Department had relied on inference in its case rather than direct evidence against Huda – who categorically denied the allegations – finding none of the witnesses provided evidence directly establishing that the driver disclosed information to journalists.

“I am satisfied that the threatened dismissal is harsh, unjust and unreasonable. I have concluded that the [department] secretary has not established the principal disclosure allegations relied upon in support of the threatened dismissal,” Constant wrote.

In June, Premier’s Department Secretary Simon Draper advised Huda that the decision to terminate his employment had been made, offering him the opportunity to resign or make further submissions against the proposed disciplinary action. Huda commenced the action in the IRC the following month.

Details of Haylen’s trip were known beyond Huda before The Daily Telegraph first published the story on February 2, Constant concluded. She found that evidence presented against the 60-year-old – such as a three-minute call between Huda and the journalist days before the story was published, and text messages sent to Haylen asking for forgiveness – did not prove he was guilty.

“The secretary submitted that Mr Huda was effectively the only conceivable source of the information that appeared in the published articles. I do not accept that characterisation of the evidence,” she wrote. “While Mr Huda plainly possessed relevant information concerning the Hunter Valley trip and related events, the evidence establishes that knowledge of aspects of those matters extended beyond him.”

A spokeswoman for Premier Chris Minns said: “This is an employment matter for the Premier’s Department. It is our understanding the department is reviewing the IRC decision.”

The department had argued that Huda’s failure to disclose messages from journalists constituted serious misconduct that would justify dismissal. It also claimed the matter had resulted in a “loss of trust and confidence” meaning Huda’s ongoing employment would be unfeasible. Both claims were dismissed.

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