Letter to Anthony Albanese 20 Jan 2023    Terms and Documents     Discussion Paper    Annexure A    Annexure B  

Pork-barrelling - Ending it

146.  Pork-barrelling is unfair and wasteful. Here’s a plan to end it  The Conversation -  Aug 22, 2022

"So how can we put a stop to the seemingly irresistible temptation to roll out ever more grants? Let’s start with an open, competitive, merit-based process for allocating government grants that establishes clear guardrails around ministerial discretion.

A better process for allocation and oversight of grants

Ministers should be able to establish grant programs and define the selection criteria, but they should not be involved in choosing grant recipients. Shortlisting and selecting grant recipients is an administrative function for the relevant department or agency.

A multi-party standing parliamentary committee should oversee compliance and interrogate any minister or public official who deviates from the rules. And funding for federal and state auditors-general should be increased to enable wider and more frequent auditing of grant programs.

A strong and well-resourced integrity commission is the last line of defence against pork-barrelling. Better processes and oversight should significantly reduce the opportunities and incentives for governments to engage in pork-barrelling in the first place.

If pork-barrelling continues, an integrity commission may choose to investigate. A recent report from the NSW Independent Commission Against Corruption concluded that pork-barrelling “can under certain circumstances involve serious breaches of public trust and conduct that amounts to corrupt conduct”.

Better processes and oversight of grant funding, alongside the other recommendations in our New Politics series of reports, would lay the foundations for a new way of doing politics in Australia – one that safeguards the public interest from political interests."

Improve the grants process

1.    All grants should be allocated through an open, competitive, merit-based assessment process. Expected outcomes and selection criteria should be published, and selection processes documented.

2.    Ministers should decide grant programs not grant recipients: the process of shortlisting applicants and selecting grant recipients is an administrative function for the relevant department or agency.

3.    If a minister is unhappy with the recommended recipients, the minister can redefine and republish the selection criteria but should not intervene in shortlisting or selection.

4.    Any exception to the new process should be reported to the finance minister, who in turn should report to parliament at least quarterly. It should also be published by the relevant department alongside the outcome of the grant round.

Strengthen oversight of public spending

5.    A multi-party standing parliamentary committee should oversee compliance with grant rules.

6.    Funding for federal and state audit offices should be increased and their budgets should be determined at arms-length from the government of the day.

7.    A strong and well-resourced integrity commission should act as a last line of defence in investigating pork-barrelling.

         Make grants administration more transparent

8.    Federal and state finance departments should publish annual reports covering all grant programs, including compliance with the process outlined here.

9.    State and territory governments should publish grant data more consistently, through a portal such as the federal government’s GrantConnect.

 47.  The huge $28 billion cost of transport infrastructure cost blowouts  -  Grattan Institute, - Marion Terrill - 24 October 2016

"The post-completion report on how a project performed against its costs and benefits should be published to data.gov.au for all to see. Finally, if a government is prepared to put up $1 billion or more for a big project, it should introduce standalone legislation to allow scrutiny and encourage bipartisanship where it really counts."

154. "ICAC finds pork barrelling could be corrupt, recommends grant funding guidelines be subject to statutory regulation."

155. Costs blow out on Coalition parking projects funded without full scoping - SMH - Farrah Tomazin  July 1, 2021

156. New politics Preventing pork-barrelling - Grattan institute - Aug 2022 - Danielle Wood, Kate Griffiths, and Anika Stobart

159. Pork barrelling can constitute corrupt conduct and could lead to criminal charges, ICAC says – The Guardian - Anne Davies  Mon 1 Aug 2022

               "Pork barrelling – the practice of allocating government grants for partisan political purposes – can constitute corrupt conduct, the New South Wales Independent Commission against Corruption has warned, calling for much stricter rules on grants.

               In its report on pork barrelling in NSW, ICAC said a minister could be engaging in corrupt conduct and open to criminal charges if they engage in pork barrelling."

               “In circumstances where pork barrelling is serious and willful, it may constitute conduct so far below acceptable standards as to amount to an abuse of the public’s trust in the office holder, such that criminal punishment is warranted,” ICAC said.

163. A battle to provide suburban railway station car parks has left taxpayers with a $660 million bill and precious little extra parking - SMH - Shane Wright - 3 July 2021

     "A few hours later, the Auditor-General’s office released its report into the administration of commuter car park projects within the Urban Congestion Fund, revealing huge problems in the $660 million program. 
A nationwide program to reduce “congestion” across suburban Australia managed to channel most of its cash into a handful of Liberal Party seats that were more at risk of being won by Labor than overwhelmed by parked cars.

     That single report, plus others over recent months from the Auditor-General, highlight the widening gap between the rhetoric of restrained spending and the practices of the federal government."

164. Factsheet: Pork Barrelling -  The Institute of Internal Auditors - Australia - 2018

165. $252 million fund designed to win seats and punish councils, inquiry finds - SMH  -  Angus Thompson - 30 March 2021

     "A $252 million grants fund handled by the Berejiklian government was deliberately devised to accommodate pork-barrelling, punish councils who objected to forced amalgamations, and win seats ahead of the 2019 state election, an inquiry has found."

166. Multibillion-dollar federal fund didn’t award money on merit, audit finds - The Age - Tina Jacks - 28 June 2021

167. What is the Bridget McKenzie scandal about?  Bridget McKenzie might have to quit federal cabinet and her deputy leadership of the Nationals over her handling of a sports grants program.  Here's why.

168. The Regulation of Pork Barrelling in Australia - Susanna Connolly - BA/LLB (Hons), TC Beirne School of Law, University of Queensland