Crossbench demands Labor pork-barrel-proof $22 billion policy

Federal spending worth $22.7 billion will be left in limbo unless Labor strikes a crossbench deal in parliament to toughen the safeguards on how the money is spent, amid fears the Future Made in Australia policy will be used to buy votes at future elections.

Labor is preparing for talks with crossbench MPs next week to overcome the concerns after the Coalition slammed the spending plan and the Greens demanded guarantees the money would not subsidise coal and gas projects.

Jim Chalmers is being urged to make amendments to the Future made in Australia Act.Credit: Alex Ellinghausen

With the draft laws hanging in the balance, Treasurer Jim Chalmers is facing calls to amend the plan so parliament can verify spending decisions and prevent the scheme from turning into a “pork-barrelling” plan to boost government support in marginal seats.

The government announced the Future Made in Australia policy in the May budget with a promise that the grants, loans and debt guarantees would support new industries to make solar panels and clean fuel, as well as producing critical minerals such as lithium.

Super funds are backing the plan in the hope they will also get to invest in new projects, as this masthead revealed on the weekend, and the policy may help counter the mammoth subsidies on offer in the United States under President Joe Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese joined Chalmers and several cabinet ministers in parliament last week to talk up the package as a way to generate new jobs, while blaming Opposition Leader Peter Dutton for standing in the way of the benefits.

“It is about identifying those industries and those opportunities that can be seized in the future for future job growth,” Albanese said.

But independent MP Helen Haines is seeking to amend the plan to require more disclosure so a key group in parliament, the Joint Committee of Public Accounts and Audit, receives unredacted documents about how the money is spent.

Haines wants the investment package to reflect the principles of a separate bill she has put to parliament to crack down on pork-barrelling after the “sports rorts” scandal over the way grants to sporting organisations went to marginal seats under the previous government.

“The government hasn’t come out on the front foot with a transparency and oversight framework,” she said.

Helen Haines wants to see changes to the Future Made in Australia Bill to stop projects being used for pork-barrelling.Credit: Alex Ellinghausen

“If, in fact, the package is worth $22.7 billion, then that’s the second-largest budget measure announced in this term of parliament, so this is a massive amount of money, and for me, the question mark really is around oversight and transparency.”

The draft law, called the Future Made in Australia Bill, centres on a “national interest framework” to guide the government on how the money is spent, stipulating that officials prepare “sector assessments” of the economy to determine where the investment is needed.

While the bill says the assessments should be revealed to parliament, it gives the treasurer broad scope to redact information he believes is commercially sensitive.

Some of the biggest deals under the new policy have been an $840 million investment in the Nolans lithium refinery backed by mining billionaire Gina Rinehart, and a shared deal with the Queensland government to build a quantum computer facility with Silicon Valley company PsiQuantum.

Finance Minister Katy Gallagher said on Sunday the government wanted parliament to pass the Labor agenda as soon as possible, emphasising plans to save money at the National Disability Insurance Scheme, pay super to people receiving paid parental leave, and appoint an administrator to the CFMEU.

Haines has put forward amendments to the Future Made in Australia law that would require the government to reveal “sector assessments” about the funding to be tabled in parliament within seven days and would also require an annual breakdown of the financial support.

While the government has put a $22.7 billion estimate on the cost of the entire package, it would not release a table that itemises every spending measure and confirmed only that total when this masthead asked for the spending tally.

The press release for the package, issued in May, mentions spending measures that appear to add up to $14.4 billion, while the Parliamentary Library has produced a tally that adds up to $21.9 billion.

The Centre for Public Integrity, a not-for-profit group led by former judges, expressed concern about the industry lobbying to gain some of the proceeds of the package.

“Whenever taxpayer funds are being spent, but especially when they are being spent in this quantum, taxpayers must be able to trust that the award of funds is transparent, based on merit, made via appropriate processes, and accompanied by proper oversight,” said Centre for Public Integrity executive director Catherine Williams.

“This is not too much to ask – it is basic good governance.

“Without the robust protections against pork-barrelling for which Dr Haines has been advocating, there is no guarantee that the allocation of taxpayer funds proposed to be spent under FMIA will not be driven by pork-barrelling or lobbying.”

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