Senate Estimates: Naughty boy: Albanese accuses PM on sports rorts amid revelations Bridget McKenzie changed spreadsheets after PMO emails

As Labor ramps up its attack over sports grants, Anthony Albanese has accused the Prime Minister of misleading parliament.

Senator Bridget McKenzie in the Senate chamber while the Senate select committee on the administration of sports grants was hearing from Sport Australia at Parliament House in Canberra. Picture Gary Ramage

Anthony Albanese has labelled Scott Morrison a “naughty boy” as he accuses the Prime Minister of misleading federal parliament over the sports rorts saga on “at least seven” occasions.

Ramping up his attack against Mr Morrison’s character, the Opposition Leader told the House of Representatives: “This Prime Minister, who said on election night that it was a miracle, has been exposed not as the messiah but just as a naughty boy, just a naughty boy.

“This Prime Minister has been caught misleading this parliament, misleading the Australian people and using taxpayers’ funds as if they were the funds of the Liberal and National Party.”

Mr Albanese claimed the Australian National Audit Office gave evidence in Senate estimates on Monday “that the Prime Minister was involved” in a decision to add and remove two projects to the third round of sports grants after parliament had been dissolved.

ANAO executive director Brian Boyd told Senate estimates that there was a change in the projects given approval to Sport Australia on April 11, following an exchange of emails between then sports minister Bridget McKenzie’s and Mr Morrison’s offices.

“We compare the 8.46am version sent on the 11th, and the version sent the day before on the 10th, so that had one project added and one project removed,” he said.

He went on to confirm that between 8.46am and 12.43pm on April 11 — by which point the election had been called and the government had gone into caretaker mode — there were approvals for a further nine new projects sent to Sport Australia by the Minister’s office.

Mr Morrison said his office provided information to Senator McKenzie’s office based on representations that had been made to it. He said it was the former minister who ultimately authorised the projects.

Pursuit continues

Labor will continue to pursue the government over the sports rorts saga in parliament, using revelations from senate estimates of Mr Morrison’s alleged involvement in the scheme as fresh ammunition.

On Tuesday morning, Mr Albanese told colleagues at Labor’s caucus saga now embroils the Prime Minister directly.

The Opposition Leader was referring to revelations from senate estimates on Monday that Sports Australia received several different versions of then-sports minister Bridget McKenzie’s colour-coded sports grants spreadsheets the day the 2019 election was called, with projects added and removed following her office’s correspondence with Scott Morrison’s office.

The Australian National Audit Office told Senate estimates that following the spreadsheets of approved projects being sent to the Prime Minister’s Office by Senator McKenzie on the 10 and 11th April last year, Sport Australia then received amendments.

According to a Labor spokesman, Anthony Albanese said: “It is the most direct involvement of a prime minister in a scandal that I have seen.”

Mr Albanese went on to outline to his colleagues what the estimates had revealed, including a slew of amendments to the list of approved projects made within a few hours on April, after the government had gone into caretaker mode.

Albanese attack

“This is in direct contravention to what the Prime Minister has repeatedly said. The Prime Minister last week claimed that this was all done on the 4th of April. We know this is not true.

“You can’t spin this, Morrison just lies. It is not conceivable when he gave answers last week that he didn’t know these facts.”

Mr Albanese also answered several questions from his colleagues keen to pursue the government on the scandal.

One Labor politician pointed out that social media posts about the sports rorts saga were performing “extraordinarily well” online, with others suggesting the party should follow up with sporting peak bodies.

Another Labor politician asked Mr Albanese whether Senator McKenzie had backdated documents in the approval process and what the legal implications would be if she had.

He responded: “You would have to believe that Bridget McKenzie signed on the 4th of April when the recommendations from Sports Australia only arrived on the 3rd of April, and in that time frame she overturned 76 per cent of the recommendations. Then did nothing until the 10th of April.”

ANAO executive director Brian Boyd told Senate estimates on Monday night that following the sport minister’s office’s emails to the PMO on April 10, there was a change in the projects given approval to Sport Australia the next morning.

“We compare the 8.46am version sent on the 11th, and the version sent the day before on the 10th, so that had one project added and one project removed,” he said.

He went on to confirm that between 8.46am and 12.43pm on April 11 — by which point the election had been called and the government had gone into caretaker mode — that there were approvals for a further nine new projects sent to Sport Australia by the Minister’s office.

Sport Australia last week revealed to a senate inquiry that Senator McKenzie sent her list of sport grants approvals 16 minutes after the election was called, but did not say it had received multiple spreadsheets on the same day.

Mr Boyd said Sport Australia was unlikely to have known that during the time the different spreadsheets had been sent, emails had gone back and forth on the lists between Senator McKenzie’s office and the PMO.

Mr Morrison last week said that the spreadsheets were only sent to his office so he could approve Senator McKenzie publicly announcing the sports projects she had picked.