Rod Kemp (Victoria, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to speak on the motion that was moved by Senator Bernardi. This is an extraordinary story, I have to say. There is an issue that has emerged. Prior to the election—in fact, for the 12 to 18 months prior to the election—Lindsay Tanner and Mr Albanese spent a great deal of time criticising the Howard government for our pre-election commitments, and some very unkind comments were made. What we did not actually know at that time was that, while Messrs Tanner and Albanese were attacking the Howard government on our pre-election commitments, they were planning the largest pork barrel in Australian history. What Senator Bernardi has indicated is that already we have found some 116 sporting grants to sporting bodies that were made in the run-up to the last election, which are valued at over $100 million.