James McGrath (Queensland, Liberal National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

On behalf of the Chair of the Joint Committee of Public Accounts and Audit, I present the 483rd and 484th reports as well as four executive minutes relating to report Nos. 452, 475 and 481. I move:

That the Senate take note of the report.

Janet Rice (Victoria, Australian Greens) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I wish to take note of the Joint Committee of Public Accounts and Audit report, and particularly their report on the sports rorts scandal. Basically, this report of the Joint Committee of Public Accounts and Audit further underlines the work that we have been doing in the Senate in the select committee on the sports reports scandal. So we're pleased to see that the Joint Committee of Public Accounts and Audit has agreed with the findings of the select committee and has raised the same issues as us, essentially going to the heart of the fact that the minister who signed off on deciding where money was going to be spent on these sports grants and questioning whether she had the legal authority to be the decision-maker. Really, this report raises the same issues that we've seen raised through the select committee interim report, the same issues of accountability and the same issues of the scandal of these grants being used, being directed, for political purposes basically for the government to try and win elections. In particular, it raises the issue of the hundreds of emails, the dozens of spreadsheets and the absolute unwillingness of this government to be accountable by the fact that they have withheld documents and they have refused to provide key information. This report really supports what we have found out in the select committee and highlights the critical point, which the Liberal Party have failed to answer, and that is that we want more information. It needs to be on the table for the Senate. In particular, we want Senator McKenzie, former Minister McKenzie, to come out of witness protection and tell us what went on. In particular, we think that Senator McKenzie should actually fess up and say it just wasn't all her idea, because the role of the Prime Minister in this is very clear from the evidence that we have considered in our committee and the evidence in the report of the joint committee we are talking about today.

We've had the Prime Minister refusing to answer questions about the role he played and the role that his office played in these sports rorts. We know that spreadsheets were attached to at least one letter from Senator McKenzie to the Prime Minister. We know that his minister was holding up decisions on which grants were going to be approved, because he hadn't seen lists or approved them. And we know that his office actually made changes to the grants allocations. So we actually think it's simply unfair that Senator McKenzie has been made to wear the political pain for this program when it's very clear that the Prime Minister was up to his neck in it. He and his office were profoundly involved in the rort. We've now got two reports that we have considered that make it very clear that Senator McKenzie should appear before the Senate committee and give a clear answer about what the Prime Minister knew. Keeping her in witness protection for so long is simply unfair to her and to the Australian people.

This matters because it goes to the heart of our democracy; it goes to the heart of the people of Australia being able to trust that the processes that are put in place are going to be fair, accountable and transparent. Clearly, determining which clubs got grants under this program was not transparent and not fair. We have a whole cohort of clubs that should have got grants, clubs that scored incredibly highly on Sport Australia's assessment, that missed out. We know that the fact that they missed out means an awful lot to them. We know that, having put in hundreds of hours of work for really worthy programs that scored really highly, that funding would have made a huge difference to them and their communities.

We want the Prime Minister to apologise. He should come clean and enable Senator McKenzie to come out of witness protection. Above all, as the sports rorts interim report that we're considering today says, we need transparency, accountability and a decision from the Prime Minister and this government to fund the sporting clubs that missed out.

Larissa Waters (Queensland, Australian Greens) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I too rise to speak on the Joint Committee on Public Accounts and Audit report into the administration of government grants. The report recommends sweeping changes to the administration of taxpayer grant schemes. That includes making sure there are clear guidelines for allocating public money, the novel suggestion of keeping clear records of how decisions are made and the excellent suggestion of actually implementing compliance mechanisms to ensure that guidelines are, in fact, followed.

The fact that a committee, dominated by government members, concludes that there's something rotten in the way that government grants are being administered, and then the government falls well short of community expectations, is very telling. The fact that the committee remains unconvinced that the minister even had the authority to issue the grants, which were at the heart of sports rorts, is particularly concerning. So many community organisations, small businesses and individuals pour hours of their time into applying for grants. They expect their applications will be assessed objectively and against the published criteria and they expect public money to be used wisely. This government doesn't even bother to pretend anymore. Various grants, particularly the community development grants, which government officials conceded in estimates are used as a slush fund for election promises, are blatant pork-barrelling. Millions of dollars of public money continue to be used to feather their own nests and secure another term in power.

For this reason, earlier this year, the Greens moved to propose a select committee inquiry into the allocation of government grants. We know it's not just sports rorts, we know it's not just the community development grants and we know it's not just a handful of other ones; we know that this is a systemic problem. So we moved that there be a committee that actually looks at the administration of all government grant programs during and after election campaigns. We wanted it to look at things like eligibility criteria; management and assessment processes; the use of closed grants programs, which are not open to public applications but just require the minister to nominate the recipient; adherence to the published assessment processes and program criteria; the relationship between election commitments and grant allocations; the need to demonstrate value for money; the efforts to influence votes through grant allocations; the role of ministers in determining the award of grants; and measures to manage the risk of politicisation of funding outcomes and announcements. We know that all these things desperately need to be examined, because, frankly, we already know the grants programs are rorted to high heaven. We wanted to get to the bottom of how that could be fixed to try to attempt to restore some confidence in the public about the administration of their money.

It was all going very well, and we thought we were going to have support to establish that excellent inquiry. We'd had a chat with all the various people whose votes we needed to get the inquiry up, and what do you know? Pauline Hanson's One Nation Party, who had told us they would support this inquiry, at the last minute changed their minds. I think it was two days later that a photograph of Senator Hanson opening a sports stadium in Rockhampton and holding a novelty cheque ran in the papers.

Paul Scarr (Queensland, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Point of order, Mr Acting Deputy President: that's a clear reflection on Senator Hanson, from our home state of Queensland, and I would ask that you consider requesting the senator to withdraw.

Stirling Griff (SA, Centre Alliance) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Senator Scarr, I don't see that as being a poor reflection in the way that it was actually presented.

Larissa Waters (Queensland, Australian Greens) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Thank you very much, Mr Acting Deputy President, for your ruling. I was simply stating some facts. It's very interesting that the Liberals are jumping to the defence of One Nation, in particular when we're talking about the granting of public moneys in an election context. That inquiry, which would have examined the rot at the heart of this system and this government, was stymied. It didn't get up. So I'm very grateful to the Joint Committee on Public Accounts and Audit that they had a look at just this sports rorts issue. As I said, we actually wanted a far broader range of issues to be looked at, but we were overruled by the vested interests in this place.

I also want to take this opportunity, on the eve of International Anti-Corruption Day, and you'll hear a bit more from me about that tomorrow, to note with incredible joy, pleasure, happiness, contentment the role that the ANAO have played in uncovering the misuse of public funds—in uncovering the rorting, the pork-barrelling and the generally poor practices around the allocation of government grants. The same committee that published the report that we are speaking to right now previously published a report that supported the ANAO and, interestingly, supported their call for a funding increase. It was that committee that identified that, without additional funds, the ANAO's capacity to undertake audits would reduce by 20 per cent. Of course, the budget did not see an increase in the ANAO's budget allocation, and so, naturally, this government has ensured that the ANAO's output will decrease by 20 per cent. One wonders at the coincidence there, given the explosive revelations that the ANAO helped to bring to light in this sports rorts scandal. So let's hope that this present committee report isn't ignored, as that one was. But it is long past time that Australians should have confidence in the administration of their money in an election contest where seats in government are at stake. It's about time the snouts came out of the trough and we started acting in the public interest. I seek leave to continue my remarks later.

Leave granted; debate adjourned.