Regardless of who wins the federal election on 21 May, the real winners of the campaign so far are sports facilities in marginal seats.
An analysis of data from Guardian Australia’s pork-o-meter shows sport-related promises dominate the announcements from both parties, accounting for one-third of Labor’s seat-specific announcements so far and 15% of the Coalition’s announcements. This makes it the most common announcement category for Labor, and the second most common for the Coalition after infrastructure.
The “sport” category covers any promise relating to sports facilities, infrastructure, team funding, and so on. There have been more than 260 funding announcements of this nature made by the two parties.
The majority of these announcements are in marginal seats, with 70% of the Coalition’s sport-related announcements benefiting a marginal electorate. Labor’s promises are similarly skewed, with 53% going towards close seats.
Lyons and Corangamite top the list for marginal electorates, with five promises each from both major parties.
In Lyons, the Tasmanian electorate held by Labor’s Brian Mitchell on a margin of 5.2%, both parties have made commitments to upgrade the facilities of the same two football clubs: Launceston City FC and Brighton Storm.
But the Coalition is slightly ahead on the scoreboard, committing $500,000 more to Launceston City’s Prospect Vale Park than Labor, with both parties pledging $2.3m to Brighton’s Seymour Street precinct.
In the regional Victorian electorate of Corangamite, held by Labor’s Libby Coker on an ultra-thin 1.1% margin, the parties are not going toe-to-toe on any announcements for the same facilities, but have still committed almost $25m between them in funding.
The Coalition has stumped up the largest commitment in the electorate, a $20m plunge for an indoor pool in Drysdale.
Across the country, the funding announcements have ranged from $25m to $20,000.
They have often come with an intangible benefit to the candidate or MP announcing them: the opportunity for colour and movement that may be compelling enough to get them on the TV news. Although it does not always go according to plan (like when Scott Morrison copped a basketball to the face during a funding announcement earlier in the campaign).
Miraculously, none of those sporting funding commitments have been made for Kardinia Park, the home of the AFL’s Geelong Football Club, in the electorate of Corio, just outside Corangamite. The stadium has become colloquially known as Pork Barrel Park because of its long history of attracting government funding.
Several announcements have been made to improve women’s facilities, in a bid to shatter the so-called “grass ceiling” preventing more women and girls from participating in sport.
The next most common announcement category after sport was “community”, covering promises relating to parks, playgrounds, community halls and the like.
Community-related promises account for 21% of Labor’s announcements and 14% of the Coalition’s.
The Coalition has promised $320,000 in federal funding for a dog park in the marginal Melbourne seat of La Trobe, which includes “nice landscaping”, and an off-leash park area.
In many cases, community and sporting announcements have a considerable cross-over, such as when the Coalition promised $1.25m for a new community hub in the town of Torquay which would support a men’s shed, community garden and Lions, Rotary and tennis clubs.
