Public money should be spent for community need, not political greed
Australians know when they’re getting ripped off, they know they’re getting pork barrelled, and they’re sick of it.
From small community grant programs of a few thousand dollars to investment funds worth billions, Australians should be confident that decisions to spend public money is fair and in the best interests of the nation.
Grant funding can help small volunteer groups like food shares, footy clubs and first-aid trainers. It can help them to upgrade facilities and equipment, or it could go to larger, much-needed projects like building new homes for low-income families.
But, for too long and particularly at election time we see funding going to where the votes are most valuable. I’m talking about sports rorts, car park rorts and hospital rorts.
It’s called pork barelling
As the Independent Member for Indi, I’ve been working to improve integrity, accountability, transparency and trust in politics, and this is the next step in doing that.
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What I've put to parliament
Funding decisions should always be evidence-based, with grants awarded on merit and need.
Under current grants processes, the responsible Minister may award grants at their discretion, against official departmental advice and without parliamentary and public scrutiny.
My End Pork Barrelling Bill would:
- require all grants programs to have clear and publicly available selection criteria
- ensure robust reporting to the parliament to increase accountability
- create a parliamentary committee with oversight of grant administration and guideline compliance
These are necessary reforms to restore transparency and accountability in the spending of public money.