A bombshell Integrity Commission report on "pork-barrelling" during Tasmania's 2018 state election campaign has raised questions over tens of millions of dollars of taxpayer money given out by the state's Liberal Party.
The report draws comparisons to the Commonwealth's so-called "sports rorts" saga over the Coalition government's awarding of grants ahead of the 2019 federal election, and finds the decisions were unfair and unaccountable.
Released on Wednesday, the report from Tasmania's integrity watchdog reveals that, during the 2018 campaign, the Tasmanian Liberals promised $21.4 million in regional grants, in amounts ranging up to $500,000, but did not list them individually anywhere.
The money was handed out over the following two years to organisations, sporting clubs, government departments, local councils and religious groups.
There is no publicly available information about how the recipients were chosen, and the grants were never further assessed by Tasmania's public service.
Most of the promised grants were announced by Liberal candidates at events hosted by the clubs or organisations that were receiving the funds, and then posted on Facebook.
Occasionally, a media release was sent out.
The Integrity Commission has found the Liberals' decisions to grant the funds did not meet the principles of accountability, openness, fairness or value for money.
"In 2018, there was no process — competitive or otherwise — to determine whether the pledged funds were really needed, or whether they were a good use of public money," the report said.
The government's grant decisions lacked selection criteria and objectives, an application process, advertising and competitiveness.
It was also not clear who was making the decisions, and there was no public record of how or why recipients were chosen.
In one case, $10,000 was given to the Glamorgan Spring Bay Council to upgrade a walking track, despite the project not having proper approvals or engineering plans.
Other grants included $500,000 to the Kingborough District Cricket Club, $50,000 to the Van Diemen Light Railway Society Inc, $20,000 to the Apostolic Church Australia Limited, $35,000 to the Cygnet Association, and $25,000 to Sleep Disorders Australia.
Fewer checks and balances than federal 'sports rorts'
The Integrity Commission said there were similarities between the Tasmanian use of grants in 2018 and the Commonwealth's sports grants, but pointed out that the Commonwealth system has "checks and balances" that the Tasmanian system does not.
Those include that the rules apply to ministers and public officers rather than just state servants, there are special rules to adhere to for election commitments, there's a requirement to seek advice first from the public service and to record any reasons for diverging from that advice, and that ministers cannot approve expenditure unless they are satisfied that it is an "efficient, effective, economical and ethical" use of taxpayer funds.
The commission has recommended Tasmania urgently review its laws, and consider introducing stronger rules.
A government spokesperson said they took into account "a range of views and representations when developing election policies".
"This includes getting out on the ground in local communities and hearing first-hand what they need for the future.
"As the report states, the commitments which were made were all clearly documented in the 2018-19 budget papers and approved by parliament."
Integrity probe that went nowhere
The ABC revealed last year that the Integrity Commission had spent two years investigating allegations of possible bribery or treating by an unknown candidate during the 2018 state election campaign, but was ultimately forced to drop the probe, in part after becoming embroiled in a legal argument with the Liberal Party over the inquiry's direction and questions over jurisdiction.
Part of a draft report from that investigation, dubbed Operation Hyperion, showed that the Integrity Commission investigated possible misconduct in awarding funding to community groups and the Tasmanian Electoral Commission's policies and processes in dealing with alleged corruption.
Premier Peter Gutwein's office was asked a series of questions as part of the probe before it was shelved.
Mr Gutwein was Tasmania's treasurer at the time of the 2018 election.
The investigation found no evidence of misconduct before it was canned.
The commission subsequently began compiling a series of research papers on "ethical conduct and potential misconduct risks in Tasmanian parliamentary elections".
Wednesday's report is the second in the series.
