Public safety projects in Cairns, Yarrabah and Cape York snubbed by Peter Dutton, documents reveal

In 2019, then-Home Affairs minister Peter Dutton had the opportunity to fund almost a dozen Far North public safety projects, but he opted for less deserving alternatives.

The federal Opposition Leader Peter Dutton overlooked almost a dozen Far North security and public safety projects in favour of less deserving alternatives, new documents reveal.

In 2019, as the then-Home Affairs minister, Mr Dutton had oversight of funding allocation via the federal government’s $189m Safer Communities Fund.

According to documents seen by the Cairns Post, Mr Dutton was presented with separate lists of grant applicants by the Department of Home Affairs: one contained 70 recommended applications, a second contained 211 recommended reserve projects, and a third contained a collection of unsuitable projects.

Mr Dutton chose to fund the top 70 but slashed more than $5.5m from their collective requested funding totals, including $222,700 from a Douglas Shire Council application, to free up some money for second-stringer projects.

The Far North didn’t miss out completely, however.

Other successful Far North projects included in the initial recommended funding round included the awarding of $57,726 for the Endeavour Foundation in Manunda for Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design improvements, and $524,998 to the Mapoon Aboriginal Council for 43 solar street lights connecting residential areas to the Mapoon township centre.

The Leader of the Opposition Peter Dutton overlooked funding almost a dozen Far North community safety projects when he was Home Affairs minister in 2019. Picture: NCA NewsWire/Martin Ollman

But instead of backing in the top-weighted recommended reserve applicants – including projects in Yarrabah, Cape York, Cairns and The Gulf – Mr Dutton opted for projects ranked low by his own department, including two deemed “unsuitable or ineligible”.

Two CCTV security projects in Yarrabah and Napranum were ranked in the top 10 of the recommended reserves.

Both were overlooked in favour of more than 50 other projects, most in LNP-held electorates, deemed less suitable by the department.

Yarrabah mayor Ross Andrews said his community had been hurt by the snub.

“It’s very disappointing a well-intentioned community safety initiative was politicised, which means our community, which struggles with safety issues, missed out,” Mr Andrews said.

“(Our project) was about installing security cameras around the town area and outlying suburbs to monitor juvenile youth crime and minimise anti-social behaviour in the town.”

Yarrabah mayor Ross Andrews said he would seek an explanation from the Opposition Leader and the Home Affairs Department as to why his community was snubbed. Picture: Nuno Avendano

Queensland senator Nita Green said the funding allocation was not fair to struggling Far North communities such as Yarrabah.

“I am just appalled to hear that when Peter Dutton had the opportunity to fund practical action in Yarrabah, he chose to send the money elsewhere,” Ms Green said.

“Peter Dutton ignored departmental advice and diverted funds away from community safety in Yarrabah to fund his hand-picked list of projects in target seats.

“(He) owes an explanation to the communities who missed out.”

Senator Nita Green said the Yarrabah community deserved an explanation from the Opposition Leader. Picture: NCA NewsWire/Martin Ollman

A spokesman for the Opposition Leader’s office described the political criticism of Mr Dutton’s past decision making as “an absurd and pathetic attack from the Albanese government who desperately want a distraction from their shambles on the Voice”.

“The Labor Party literally cut the Safer Communities program,” the spokesman said.

“Australians expect their government to act to make their communities safer and more secure.

“This is exactly what Mr Dutton did through the Safer Communities Fund.”

The spokesman said Mr Dutton was proud of the significant investment made in community organisations across Australia.

“Including, it should be noted, many Indigenous community applications that were successful in receiving funding,” the spokesman said.

“Indigenous organisations received $3,022,883 from this round.”

The spokesman said 18% of the funding under the third round of the program was awarded to Indigenous groups, despite their applications accounting for just 6% of the total funding sought.

Katter’s Australian Party MP Bob Katter said unlike many federal grants, this one did not directly involve him or his office, but said it was a timely reminder to councils “to stay on the hammer with their federal member”.

“Because if I had known I could’ve been watching, and this may not have happened,” he said.

“If you make applications for government grants, you always want to ensure the state and federal member are backing the applications.

“I must express an opinion that I’ve never been keen on big brother watching, but if the people of Yarrabah want it, I would back them strongly.

“If Peter Dutton has shown bias, and if the public record indicates he has, there’ll be a lot of trouble coming down the railway line.”

Originally published as Public safety projects in Cairns, Yarrabah and Cape York snubbed by Peter Dutton, documents reveal