If there's any shred remaining of ministers' responsibility in our democratic system then it's being tested by Brad "Health" Hazzard.

We saw his true colours a year and a week ago in NSW Parliament when he abused Jodie McKay after she asked if NSW had a shortage of face masks.

Now, as the Sydney outbreak of the Delta strain spreads across the state, he shows himself again to to lack the appropriate response, dignity, or ability to handle either the crisis or the reasonable scrutiny that comes with it.

He's not alone there - Prime Minister Scott Morrison was this week described as a "cranky man" with an "aggressive streak" that comes out when he's tested.

But Hazzard brings such a level of harsh dismissiveness and undisguised rage to the task of answering public questions that it's difficult to understand why he ever chose to represent people in the first place.

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Consider a few instances of critical failures in policy and performance - and lets see if taking responsibility is still part of how politics works in Australia.

The Delta strain escaped into Sydney then beyond because drivers of international flight crew were not forced to be vaccinated or masked. The minister is responsible.

A Sydney man who took his son and Delta to and around Byron Bay was allowed to, because the NSW Health "lockdown" rules let people travel to look at real estate.

This week, after it was revealed wealthy Sydneysiders had been travelling around to their holiday homes then to the snow, Hazzard said he would speak to his department about tightening up the rules. As if he was surprised.

And do we remember the Ruby Princess debacle?

Even the Daily Telegraph, firmly on the Government's side of politics, has said while Hazzard is unlikely to continue past the next election he should go sooner.

We're all getting frustrated with the pandemic and I can understand if the Health Minister is feeling it keenly. But he really doesn't seem like he wants to be doing this. Others call it arrogance.

One might expect humility in his position but Hazzard's belligerence in the face of questions belies his performance in the job. Delta is raging on with Government measures failing to turn the numbers around, loopholes making it worse and goals seeming to shift often.

And last weekend, by then the worst day for NSW, winding up a rambling and confusing press conference statement, Hazzard forgot to mention the five people who had died, then tried shift it onto the Deputy Chief Health Officer to deal with [see above clip].

Three of the deaths were linked to an outbreak at Liverpool Hospital where a health worker became infected and spread the disease to patients, but the Minister for Health seemed not to give a hoot. If responsibility mattered, it would have been the last thing he did under his title.

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