Sports grants scandal: Bridget McKenzie resigns over ministerial standards breach
Bridget McKenzie has resigned over the $100m sports rorts scandal, prompting a Nationals ballot for her position - and Barnaby Joyce says he would stand for the leadership.
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Barnaby Joyce could be back as Australia’s Deputy Prime Minister within a day if a Nationals leadership spill occurs tomorrow.
Bridget McKenzie’s resignation as Deputy Nationals leader in the wake of the $100 million sports grants scandal will trigger a ballot for her job when the National Party meets as parliament resumes on Tuesday.
But it could also spark a wider spill for the Nationals leadership, with some colleagues unhappy with Deputy Prime Minister and current leader Michael McCormack’s performance in the top job.
Mr Joyce, who stepped down as Nationals leader in February 2018 amid a political storm over his affair with former staffer Vicki Campion, confirmed he would run for his old job if a spill was called.
“I’ve been the leader before and under that we had the maximum number of cabinet ministers that we’ve ever had, we won more seats that we had in about 30 years,” he told the Seven Network today.
“We delivered some big changes: inland rail, Regional Investment Corporation, country of origin labelling.
“I believe if people want to investigate if there should be a change, now’s the time to do it - two years before the next election.”
But Mr Joyce said he wouldn’t personally call a spill.
“It’s up to other people if they want to do the spill.”
Ms McKenzie felll on her sword over the $100 million so-called sports rorts scandal after being found guilty of breaching ministerial standards.
The former sport minister resigned from Scott Morrison’s frontbench on Sunday, 2½ weeks after a damning audit report found evidence of pork-barrelling in a sports grants program she administered before the 2019 election.
An inquiry into the scheme was prompted by Georgina Downer’s novelty cheque for the Yankalilla Bowling Club.
This came to light last February. Senator McKenzie, pictured, stepped down as agriculture minister and will resign as National Party deputy leader, prompting a leadership ballot tomorrow.
The controversy – combined with fierce criticism of the Government over its response to the bushfire crisis – has led to a backlash in the latest Newspoll, published in The Australian today.
The Coalition’s primary support has tumbled to 38 per cent, while Labor leads 52-48 on a two-party preferred basis.
Deputy Prime Minister and Nationals leader Michael McCormack could also be in the firing line, with colleagues unhappy with his leadership.
An investigation found Senator McKenzie breached ministerial standards by failing to declare her membership of a regional Victoria shooting club that received a $36,000 grant. But the inquiry by the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet Secretary Phillip Gaetjens, formerly Mr Morrison’s chief-of-staff before he became one of the nation’s top public servants, found no evidence of pork-barrelling.
The Gaetjens report will not be made public, but Mr Morrison said it found grant approvals were not “unduly influenced” by whether applications were in marginal or target seats.
Applications were approved by the minister for target seats at a “statistically similar” ratio to other electorates, he said.
The finding is in direct contrast to the Australian National Audit Office’s report, which found Sport Australia assessed 2056 applications on merit, while Senator McKenzie’s office conduced a “parallel” process that considered their location, including if they were in target seats. More than 60 per cent of the 684 grants approved by the minister did not meet the Sport Australia cutoff.
Mr Morrison thanked Senator McKenzie for her “outstanding” work in Cabinet and for championing regional Australia. Senator McKenzie said: “I maintain that at no time did my membership of shooting sports clubs influence my decision making, nor did I receive any personal gain. However, I acknowledge that my failure to declare my memberships in a timely manner constituted a breach of the Prime Minister’s Ministerial Standards.”
Senator McKenzie said she understood Australians expected MPs to “abide by the highest standards”. She defended her role in approving the grants. “Elected representatives are responsible for public expenditure and take advice, not direction, from the public service and others,” she said.
Mr Morrison will amend guidelines to ensure Commonwealth entities such as Sport Australia also report their findings about decisions on grants.
Mr McCormack will take over the agriculture portfolio until a new minister is appointed. Mr Morrison did not rule out a wider ministerial reshuffle this year. But he said he was “very pleased” with his ministers’ performance and the country needed government to focus on bushfires, drought and the coronavirus. Opposition Leader Anthony Albanese said the scandal was “bigger than one minister”. “We still need to get to the bottom of these tawdry sports rorts,” he said.
