Labor Government To Review Grants Aproved By Former PM After Portfolio Saga

Labor Government To Review Grants Aproved By Former PM After Portfolio Saga

The Australian Labor government is currently reviewing a grant program that was implemented by Scott Morrison. This could mean the loss of funding for related projects.

After it was revealed that the former prime minister secretly swore himself into five minister roles between 2020 and 2021, The Sydney Morning Herald reported that Morrison had approved 17 projects as part of the Modern Manufacturing Initiative just before the federal election took place in May.

The news outlet said Morrison was targeting Australian voters with the $828 million (US$571 million) spending program as more than half of the manufacturing projects were located in electorates held by the Liberal-National Coalition, while just four were in safe Labor seats.

Federal Industry and Science minister Ed Husic stated that the Labor government is reviewing funding and it’s possible for projects to lose grants.

“We are going through the review and will make a determination,” he said to ABC Radio. It is very difficult to remove money from the table, especially for businesses and industries that have already considered that in .”

.

Industry and Science Minister Ed Husic speaks to media during a press conference in Canberra, Australia, on May 13, 2021. (Sam Mooy/Getty Images)

While news about the grant program was made public following Morrison’s revelations, Husic stated that he had already begun a review.

The minister expressed disapproval at Morrison’s excuse that he had to approve the grants as it involved multiple portfolios.

“That’s a very handy retrofit by prime minister,” he stated ,

” I’ve been worried for a while… Last year, I was concerned that Morrison would make himself the decision-maker. I wrote to him and his staff – they said there wasn’t any problem with that .”

See also  Biden attacks Millions of Americans who Support Trump and Descends into Complete Incoherence

.

The review’s findings are expected to be published before October, when the Labour government will announce its federal budget.

Pork-Barrelling In Grant Programs

Husic’s comments came after the Grattan Institute released a new report on pork-barrelling–diverting government funding to target certain voters connected with sitting MPs.

The report showed that both the federal and state governments and both political parties engaged in pork-barreling, with certain grant programs showing signs of politicisation.

At the same time, it found that among the 19,000 grants approved by the previous Coalition government between 2017 and 2021, $1,9 billion was allocated to Coalition seats, while $530 million went to Labor seats.

Danielle Wood was the lead author of the report and chief executive at Grattan Institute. She said that the practice is becoming more common.

” Though pork-barrelling might be legal grey, it’s not good governance,” she stated.

“This is a waste of taxpayers’ funds, undermines trust in political leaders, promotes corruption .”

In light of the adverse effects of pork-barrelling the Institute recommends that grant allocations should be entrusted to public officials. Husic stated that the final decision on grant allocations should be made by politicians.

“Parliamentarians are elected to represent both community and national interest at the federal level,” he said.

Follow

Alfred Bui, an Australian journalist based in Melbourne, focuses on business and local news. A former owner of a small business, he holds two master’s degrees. Contact him at [email protected].

Read More

Previous post New Birth-Boosting Guidelines Reveal ‘Serious’ Population Issue in China: Experts
Next post Another Attack on Human Dignity