NSW Nationals leader jetted to the wineries. He took ministerial car too

NSW Nationals leader Dugald Saunders took a ministerial car from Dubbo to the Hunter Valley for a weekend away with his wife, visiting wineries and receiving gifts of alcohol in the latest of a string of disclosures that has placed a spotlight on use of taxpayer-funded vehicles.

The Sydney Morning Herald revealed last month that Saunders, leader of the junior Coalition partner in NSW and agriculture minister in the former government, took a Rural Fire Service jet from Dubbo to Newcastle in August 2022 before a trip through the Hunter Valley wine region.

Saunders was the only passenger on the 34-minute taxpayer-funded flight, which he took after being offered the plane by RFS commissioner Rob Rogers, to attend the opening of a memorial garden for firefighters in his Dubbo electorate.

While Saunders said he did not hire a car for the trip to Newcastle, or use a ministerial driver, the Herald obtained driver logs through freedom of information laws which show he did take a taxpayer-funded car on the trip.

The Nationals leader says the trip was work related, saying he attended an “industry roundtable” and discussed issues such as grape fungus, workforce shortages in the Hunter Valley and the impact of floods on the region’s wine production.

The 932-kilometre, two-day trip also included a winery tour and tasting at De Iuliis winery in Pokolbin, as well as visits to Agnew Wines.

In a social media post during the trip De Iuliis thanked Saunders “and his lovely wife Karen” for their visit, which included “a winery tour and tasting of our wines”.

Saunders did not directly answer whether his wife, who accompanied him during his visit to the Hunter, had driven his ministerial car from Dubbo.

“As previously stated and as disclosed in the vehicle logbook, the trip in question was a business trip. Any assertions to the contrary are false,” a spokeswoman for the Nationals leader said.