Bridget McKenzie facing fresh scrutiny over government grants
Bridget McKenzie is facing fresh scrutiny amid concerns further government grants under her watch were awarded to councils which did not meet eligibility requirements.
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Bridget McKenzie is facing fresh scrutiny amid concerns further government grants under her watch were awarded to councils which did not meet eligibility requirements.
Senator McKenzie is already facing pressure to resign over the ‘sports rort’ saga which saw the government use a $100 million sports grant program to hand out cash to marginal seats ahead of the 2019 election.
Sky News Political Editor Andrew Clennell said Ms McKenzie also signed off on six Drought Communities Program grants to councils which did not meet the eligibility criteria.
A drought grant was reportedly awarded to La Trobe Council despite only 2.92 per cent of the population being employed in the agriculture industry.
The minimum requirement for the grant was 17 per cent.
In a Senate Estimates exchange in October 2019, Department of Infrastructure’s Diana Hallam said the 14 drought grants did not meet requirements.
A spokesman for the Agriculture Minister said all 14 councils in question met one or both criteria.
“Any decision to approve council areas as eligible for the Drought Communities Program is set out in the guidelines and involves consultation between the Minister for Regional Development and Minister for Agriculture and Water Resources,” he said.
“Ministerial discretion on final funding decisions exists to ensure councils that do not meet the rigid thresholds can still access support based on their individual circumstances. All 14 councils met one or both criteria.”
CLUBS’ ANGER AFTER MISSING FUNDING
Community sports clubs that missed out on funding in Bridget McKenzie’s $100 million grants scheme have been left confused and angry after a leaked list revealed many had near-perfect applications.
Dozens of clubs around the country this week learned they had been passed over for clubs did not score as highly as them against the criteria.
A score of 74 was the cut-off for funding under Sport Australia’s merit-based system, but the report found a parallel assessment process was run within Senator McKenzie’s office.
A document leaked to the ABC this week revealed the top 50 clubs that were recommended by Sport Australia but rejected to make room for applications with lower scores.
The four highest-rated clubs on the list were Victorian.
The Gippsland Ranges Roller Derby, in a very safe Nationals seat, was scored 98 out of 100 for its application.
But Senator McKenzie’s office declined its funding request.
In light of the leaked score, the club resubmitted its application in the hopes they would now see some money.
“We have submitted a request to Sport Australia for our application to be reviewed based on merit alone,” a spokeswoman told the Herald Sun.
Also at the top of the list was the City of Casey that requested $500,000 and was scored 97 out of 100.
The Colac Otway Shire and the Yarra Ranges Council’s applications both received ratings of 95 but were turned down.
Kyneton District Soccer Club president Ron Cole told the Herald Sun he was “gutted” to learn his club scored 87 but was still overlooked.
The rejection of clubs like the female-focused roller derby club was a direct contradiction to the Morrison Government’s messaging on the program, according to opposition sports spokesman Don Farrell.
“Clubs applies for grants to fund female change rooms and other projects supporting girls and women to play sport were snubbed,” he said.
“Despite being recommended for grants by Sport Australia, those clubs were dudded because they weren’t on the Morrison government’s list of marginal and target seats.”
According to the ABC, three of the lowest scored applications were in Coalition-held seats.
They reported the Pakenham Football Club was scored a 50 out of 100 for its application.
The club, in the marginal Liberal-held electorate of La Trobe, was then awarded $500,000.
The Herald Sun also revealed McKenzie took a Nationals candidate with her on a tour across the Victorian seat of Indi as she handed out more than $400,000 in taxpayer funds to sporting clubs across the electorate.
Three months before the election, Senator McKenzie took Nationals hopeful Mark Byatt along as she handed out cheques to three sporting clubs in a seat the Coalition was hoping to win.
The cash splash was ultimately unsuccessful, with Mr Byatt winning just 9.4 per cent of the vote, and Independent Helen Haines securing the job left vacant when independent Cathy McGowan retired.
Senator McKenzie, the then-Sports Minister, posed for pictures with former Wodonga mayor Mr Byatt, as she handed out money to the Cudgewa Football Club, Wangaratta Clay Target Club and Wodonga Football and Sports Club on February 25.
Senator McKenzie shared two photos on her Facebook account on the day.
One showed the pair posed at Cudgewa Football Club, that was awarded $200,000 via the Towong Shire.
“Fantastic to have visited Cudgewa football and netball club together with Mark Byatt – Nationals for Indi to deliver $200,000 in funding through our community sports infrastructure grant scheme,” she wrote.
A shot of the duo strolling across Wodonga’s Martin Park was also shared to announce a $205,000 boost for the Wodonga Bulldogs.
The Nationals for Regional Victoria Facebook page also shared a snap from the day of the pair holding guns at the shooting club.
“The Nationals candidate for Indi, Mark Byatt – Nationals for Indi has been out and about with Senator Bridget McKenzie today announcing a huge upgrade to the female and disabled facilities at the Wangaratta Clay Target Club,” the post read.
PM QUIZZED ABOUT SPORTS RORTS
Prime Minister Scott Morrison faced a series of tough questions on Wednesday about the sports rorts scandal, in which he rejected suggestions that the government’s allocation of grants to groups in targeted electorates had been self-serving.
He did not specify whether former Sports Minister Bridget McKenzie would be stood down over the issue, saying only that the Attorney-General’s investigation into the grants was underway and he would act on his recommendations.
He rejected a comparison to the infamous Ros Kelly “sports rorts whiteboard” affair from the 1980s, saying in that instance, public money was given to ineligible projects, and that did not happen in this case.
He also rejected suggestions that public money was used for party political purposes, saying the sports grants were awarded “to support local communities in the sporting infrastructure that they need to bond together,” he said.
“What the Government was doing was supporting local community infrastructure projects, and I know all of which were eligible under the program, all of which will make a difference in the community and there are always many more,” he said.
Asked what he would say to the representatives from sporting groups that did not receive any grants through the program, Mr Morrison stated that there were “many, many more worthy projects in this area”.
“I will work with the Treasurer to see how we can better support even more projects in the future. On any grants program, however it is done, there will always be many applicants whose projects are very worthy and they’re unable to be accommodated by the budget we have set,” he said.
The Prime Minister was also quizzed on his view of the public service, given the impression that its advice on the most worthy recipients of the grants had been largely ignored by Ms McKenzie’s office.
“I absolutely respect the professionalism and the expertise and the skills of Australia’s public service,” he said.
“I have always done so. I greatly value the contribution they make in the work of our Government.”
THE SHOCK EMAIL THAT EXPOSED MCKENZIE
Two words in a single email exposed the behaviour of embattled Deputy Nationals Leader Bridget McKenzie, leading to the probe into the sports grants scheme.
It is alleged that the “smoking gun” for the Auditor-General was an email containing the words “targeted” and “marginal” when referring to seats that grants would be dished out to, Sky News reports.
The email was obtained by the Auditor-General and led them to uncover the rorting of the scheme, Sky News claims.
Senator McKenzie is facing pressure to resign over the saga which saw the government use a $100 million sports grant program to hand out cash to marginal seats ahead of the 2019 election.
The latest development comes amid a report from the ABC that Sport Australia, the agency charged with administering the sports grant scheme, warned the Morrison Government that its interference was compromising its independence.
Sport Australia was reportedly angry that community sports projects it recommended for federal funding were being ignored in favour of projects in election battleground seats.
The ABC reports that a month before the election was called, Sport Australia wrote to Senator McKenzie outlining its fears.
The minister’s defenders are maintaining the grants are all above board but many within the Nationals are gunning for her to be sacked from her deputy leadership position.
Senator McKenzie is facing more criticism for failing to declare a new investment property in the blue-chip inner Melbourne suburb of Middle Park for three months.
Parliamentary practice gives MPs 35 days to update their register of interests after buying a property, but she did not declare the October purchase until January.
Her office has blamed a long settlement period for the delay.
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National Party president Larry Anthony said he was confident Ms McKenzie will survive the sports grants controversy.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison referred Senator McKenzie’s handling of the program to his department head Philip Gaetjens to see if ministerial rules were broken.
Mr Anthony said while there may be differences of opinion in the coalition on Senator McKenzie’s future, he said people shouldn’t read too much into it.
“You always get the to-ing and fro-ing in politics,” Mr Anthony said.
Federal Health Minister Greg Hunt presumed Senator McKenzie would still be a cabinet minster before parliament resumes next week, he told the ABC.
Former National Party leader Barnaby Joyce was also confident the minister would survive.
“This will be a rough time in her career, but I bet you she’ll see it through,” he told the Seven Network.
- with staff reporters and AAP
Originally published as Bridget McKenzie facing fresh scrutiny over government grants
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