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Calls for council grants overhaul

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Local Government NSW believes it is time to clean up council grant funding to make it predictable, transparent, fair and ethical.

The peak body was responding to a NSW Parliamentary inquiry which found the State Government operated a “brazen pork barrel scheme” and played party politics with $252 million of taxpayers’ money.

LGNSW President Linda Scott said the Public Accountability Committee, chaired by David Shoebridge MLC, clearly outlined the blatant political misuse of the Stronger Communities Fund grant program in a report which found the Program “was never meant to benefit the public”.

Stronger Communities grant funding was supposed to help amalgamated councils ameliorate the cost of forced amalgamations, but was instead primarily delivered to councils in Coalition or marginal electorates ahead of the 2019 State election.

The Public Accountability Committee said the current grants system was “broken and in need to a fundamental overhaul”.

Cr Scott welcomed the recommendation that the current model of grant funding be replaced with a clear and transparent funding formula, which was predictable and provided multiyear funding agreements.

“This would give councils certainty and allow them to plan ahead to ensure the effective and efficient use of taxpayer funds,” she said.

“The Government needs to work with LGNSW to change the way State funding is determined to ensure public funds deliver public good, in a way that is transparent, fair and equitable for all councils in NSW.

“It is totally unacceptable that councils and their communities miss out on funding for political reasons.”

Cr Scott said the Public Accountability Committee had recommended the new council funding model require a link to each councils’ existing strategic planning documents and priorities, to remove any potential political bias and ensure genuine community value.

“The Committee also recommends consideration be given to the additional costs borne by regional and remote councils; an issue which places additional pressure on councils with lower ratings bases than metropolitan councils,” she said.

“This recommendation has our full support, as does the Committee’s call to ensure funding criteria is regularly and publicly reviewed to ensure it is actually meeting the needs of the sector and not turning into a vote-buying exercise that advantages some and disadvantages others.”

Last week’s report is the result on an inquiry that kicked off in July last year following allegations the Stronger Communities Fund was nothing more than pork barrelling in the lead up to the 2019 election.

“Councils absolutely rely on State and Federal support for the vast and ever growing range of infrastructure and services they provide their communities. They rely on grants like the Stronger Communities Fund to help underwrite vital local projects,” Cr Scott said.

The New South Wales Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) conducted a forum last week to examine ‘pork barrelling’, to determine if it is lawful, ethical and whether it might constitute corrupt conduct under the Independent Commission Against Corruption Act 1988.

ICAC Chief Commissioner Peter Hall hosted the forum and he believes pork barrelling laws need to be investigated.

Legal and government experts were in attendance at the forum to discuss the topic of choosing certain electorates to receive money for a political outcome.

Some of the discussion surrounded findings of a NSW auditor general’s report into the Gladys Berejiklian Government’s Stronger Communities grants worth a total of $250 million when millions went into Coalition Electorates, with suggestions that the motive was political instead of for the community’s benefit.

Member for Cootamundra Steph Cooke said she would continue to try to gain funding to benefit many projects in her electorate.

“As the local Member of Parliament, I have worked hard to ensure our electorate receives its fair share of investment across the range of programs available through the NSW Government,” Ms Cooke said.

“I also think it important to note the considerable amount of time and effort put in by local government and community organisations to apply for funding opportunities.

“A review into the administration of grant programs has taken place, with the NSW Government confirming its support or support in principle for all of the recommendations put forward by the Grants Administration Review.

“I am very proud to have provided my support to a variety of projects across the electorate, through a range of NSW Government programs and I will continue to fight hard in this respect.”

ICAC is now set to produce another report in July.

An ICAC spokesperson said the next step following the forum, which the Chief Commissioner indicated in his closing remarks, is that the Commission will produce a follow-up report to the forum, likely next month.

In the meantime, the panellists’ papers and the video of the live stream of the forum was posted online (link at end of story).

People are also welcome to email comments to ICAC until Friday (June 10).

Forum details: https://www.icac.nsw.gov.au/education-and-events/forum-on-pork-barrelling

Narrandera Argus 9 June 2022

This article appeared in the Narrandera Argus, 9 June 2022.

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