Greens Senator Janet Rice has slammed Bridget McKenzie’s handling of the sport program, giving $100 million in sport grants to favour Coalition target seats in last year’s federal election, rather than awarding grants based on merit.
Senator Janet Rice, Greens spokesperson for Sport said:
“This looks like a government rort designed to win elections.”
“Senator McKenzie should be ashamed of her actions. To ignore the merit-based assessment of Sports Australia for almost half of the successful applicants, and instead decide to award grants based on political gain, is a clear and unforgivable misuse of taxpayers’ money.”
“Australians expect transparency and accountability from those in power. Senator McKenzie’s decision-making process was completely unsporting, with clubs in safe seats hampered in their chances of winning a grant.”
“We will pursue this in Senate Estimates and will consider seeking the support of the Senate for an inquiry.”