Anthony Albanese claims system is broken after analysis revealed how grants were spent

Scott Morrison has been accused of running a broken government after fresh revelations about how taxpayers’ money was spent.

Anthony Albanese has unloaded on a “morally bankrupt” Scott Morrison after an investigation found Coalition-held electorates were demonstrably favoured in the allocation of taxpayer funds.

The analysis, undertaken by the Sydney Morning Herald and The Age, found of 19,000 grants administered by the government, Liberal electorates received three times more taxpayer money than Labor-held electorates.

Mr Albanese, who is campaigning in the Tasmanian seat of Bass, pounced on the probe, telling reporters the government was addicted to rorting taxpayer funds.

Anthony Albanese says the report is just another reason why Australia needs a federal ICAC. Picture: NCA NewsWire / John Gass

“Taxpayer funds are ones that are paid for by hard workers … They deserve better than to have their taxpayer funds from their hard work funnelled into marginal electorates on the basis of a political whim,” the Labor leader said.

“You don't need a measure to know that this is a system which is broken and a government which is morally bankrupt. You don't need a measure to know that it’s wrong to have colour-coded sheets in the Prime Minister’s office determining where taxpayer funds go.

“We need governments to be held to account for their actions.”

But the Prime Minister later criticised the report, claiming it was a “selective analysis”.

“People can make their own judgments about that. When we make a commitment, we keep it,” he told reporters in Brisbane.

Scott Morrison dismissed the report as a selective analysis. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Jeremy Piper

“Others might want to criticise us for keeping our commitments. They might want to criticise us for the support we’ve given to drought-affected and flood-affected communities but when I make a commitment to do those things, I carry it through.”

When pressed on the matter of two neighbouring Queensland seats, Dickson and Lilley, receiving wildly different grant allocations – $43 million to $932,000 respectively – Mr Morrison dismissed it.

“Dickson must have a very good local member,” he said before moving on.

Defence Minister Peter Dutton is the member for Dickson, while Labor backbencher Anika Wells holds Lilley.

Both Mr Morrison and Mr Albanese are seeking to make the most of the reopening of domestic borders, spending the week before the Christmas holidays on the pre-election campaign trail across the country.

Labor needs to pick up at least eight seats if it hopes to form majority government next year.

Originally published as Anthony Albanese claims system is broken after analysis revealed how grants were spent