Industry projects approved by former prime minister Scott Morrison as part of a grants program could have their funding removed following a federal government review.
Following news Mr Morrison swore himself into five ministries between 2020 and 2021, it was revealed the then prime minister approved 17 projects as part of the modern manufacturing initiative just before the election, according to The Sydney Morning Herald.
Of the manufacturing projects, more than half were in electorates held by the coalition while just three were in safe Labor seats.
Industry Minister Ed Husic said the new Labor government was reviewing the funding arrangements for the projects, with some facing the risk of losing the money allocated.
“We’re going through the review and we’ll make a decision,” he told ABC radio on Monday.
“It is a very big call to take money off the table for industries and businesses that have factored that in.”
The minister indicated he launched the review of the grants program shortly after being sworn into the role following May’s election.
Mr Husic said he did not accept the explanation from Mr Morrison that the prime minister needed to sign off on the final approval on the grants because it dealt with multiple portfolios.
“That is a very convenient retrofit by the prime minister,” he said,
“I’ve been concerned for quite some time … I was concerned last year when I saw Morrison had made himself the decision maker, wrote to him – and his people didn’t think there was any issue with that.”
The government is expected to find out the results of the review of the grants program before the upcoming federal budget in October.
Mr Husic’s comments come following a new report by the Grattan Institute on pork-barrelling.
The report found that of the 19,000 grants allocated by the then coalition government between 2017 and 2021, $1.9 billion went to coalition seats while $530 million went to Labor seats.
The report’s lead author and institute chief executive Danielle Wood said the practice was becoming more normalised in politics.
“Pork-barrelling may be legally grey, but it is not good government,” she said.
‘It wastes taxpayers’ money, undermines public trust in our political leaders and institutions, and promotes a corrupt culture.”
While the institute has called for public servants to be in charge of grant allocations, Mr Husic said the role should remain with politicians.
“Parliamentarians are elected to represent both community and national interest at the federal level,” he said.
“I don’t think we should all be tarred with the coalition brush.”
