Legality of sports grants not investigated as part of PM&C probe

Phil Gaetjens says he did not check whether Bridget McKenzie had the legal authority to shell-out money for sport grants.

Secretary of the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet Philip Gaetjens.

Prime Minister and Cabinet secretary Phil Gaetjens did not check whether former Sport Minister Bridget McKenzie had the legal authority to shell-out $100 million in taxpayer funds as part of his investigation into her involvement in the controversial community sport grants scheme.

Mr Gaetjens defended his probe at a Senate inquiry on Wednesday, declaring he did not explore the legality of the so-called ‘sports rorts’ saga because it had been “addressed separately” by Attorney-General Christian Porter.

The nation’s top public servant repeatedly told the hearing his role had been to determine whether Senator McKenzie had breached ministerial standards.

He said he had not been tasked with replicating auditor-general Grant Hehir’s scathing report that found the Community Sport Infrastructure Program skewed funding ­decisions in favour of sporting clubs in marginal seats.

“I will not stand by here and just be criticised for saying it’s a limited process. My job was not to replicate the auditor-general,” Mr Gaetjens said. “I wasn’t necessarily interested in the process, it was the outcomes.”

Mr Gaetjens revealed he did not consider the 136 emails exchanged between Scott Morrison’s office and Senator McKenzie’s, nor the colour-coded spreadsheets as part of his investigation.

It was heard only Senator McKenzie and the then-head of Sport Australia Kate Palmer were interviewed during Mr Gaetjens’ investigation.

The former deputy Nationals leader quit cabinet in February after Mr Gaetjens’ inquiry found she broke ministerial rules in awarding $36,000 to a clay shooting club of which she didn’t disclose her membership.

The Gaetjens report differed from Mr Hehir’s in finding the sport grants were not used for political purposes.

Constitutional law expert Anne Twomey in February made a submission to the inquiry in which she raised questions regarding the legality of the program.

In a fiery exchange on Wednesday, opposition public service spokeswoman Katy Gallagher questioned Mr Gaetjens’s independence and asked him to confirm he had not scrutinised the scheme’s legality as part of his probe.

“No I did not,” he said. “That was a question specifically followed up by the Prime Minister through the Attorney-General.”

Asked about last-minute changes to the grant program that occurred in the hour after the election was called and after parliament had been prorogued, Mr Gaetjens said the timing had not formed part of his investigation.

Mr Gaetjens argued the issue didn’t warrant further attention because Senator McKenzie had quit by the time he found out she had sent Sport Australia a brief approving funding for the 228 projects at 8:46am on April 11.

The House had been dissolved just 16 minutes earlier at 8.30am.

“By that time the Minister had resigned. Why does one need to have a look at something when the Minister has resigned?” Mr Gaetjens said.

But Senator Gallagher blasted Mr Gaetjens’ defence as extraordinary.

“Oh come on Mr Gaetjens, you’re the head of the public service. It doesn’t bother you taxpayers funds are being spent after caretaker kicks in?” she said.

Under caretaker conventions, governments are supposed to avoid making “major” financial commitments, but there is discretion as to what constitutes a major undertaking.

The government has previously argued the approval for the grants was signed off on April 4 — and not on April 11.

However, Mr Hehir’s report into the administration of the scheme stated that the funding decision for round three was finalised on April 11 – the day the election was called.

Mr Gaetjens said he would have to look at the funding decisions in greater detail, but noted taxpayer funds could be allocated in caretaker mode.