Member for Indi, Helen Haines, is asking the Australian National Audit Office (ANAO) to investigate election commitments made by the Labor Party in 2022, amounting to $1.35 billion through two invitation only grant funds.
Dr Haines said that during the last election campaign, the Australian Labor Party made 435 commitments to fund projects, with 86.8 per cent of seats that Labor won or held at the election receiving a grant through the programs.
“Only 51.7 per cent of non-Labor seats received a grant,” Dr Haines noted.
“Once Labor formed government, it directed the Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development, Communications and the Arts to set up two grant programs – Investing in Our Communities Program and the Priority Community Infrastructure Program, allocating almost $1.35 billion to these programs in their October 2022 budget.
“Freedom of Information requests show the relevant minister asked the department to undertake a desktop review for project merits after coming to government, long after the spending commitments were made.”
Dr Haines pointed to the program guidelines as a point of concern, noting they were ‘one-off, closed, non-competitive programs’, with the eligibility restricted to those ‘invited to deliver a project identified by the Australian government’.
“The government had an ‘invite-only’ list of organisations that could apply through these two programs, mostly projects that were already promised by Labor as election commitments,” she said.
“When you put all of the information together – who received a grant, the application process and the assessment process – we have to ask, does the process for determining recipients under these programs seem rigorous, objective, fair, equitable and responsible? Or is this just another example of pork barrelling?”
Dr Haines said she had met with the Minister for Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Local Government, Catherine King, to lay out her concerns in a meeting in October, advising the minister she would be making a referral to the audit office.
“The ANAO is the auditor for public spending – it makes sure that when the government spends taxpayer money, it stacks up. I want to know if these election commitment programs do indeed stack up.”
Dr Haines said that any assertion by the government that “the election is the selection” goes to the heart of the problem of pork barrelling and called on the Parliament to take firm action to end the practice.
“The spending of taxpayer money should always be done fairly and transparently, with proper guidelines and selection criteria and awarded to recipients who objectively demonstrate merit.”
According to the Australia Institute, more than 80 per cent of Australians view pork barrelling as a form of corruption.
“This is a flaw of Australian democracy and needs to change,”
This article appeared in the Corryong Courier, 7 November 2024.
