Latest news with #ChrisRath
The Advertiser
9 hours ago
- Politics
- The Advertiser
Labor's pork-barrelling answer managed 'effectively'
A controversial community grant scheme spreading $37.2 million across 93 electorates has been cleared of pork-barrelling claims but conflicts of interest concerns linger. The NSW auditor-general on Thursday published its verdict after two years of consternation from the coalition over the integrity, efficacy and value of Labor's taxpayer-funded Local Small Commitments Allocation scheme. The grants program, announced by Labor before it swept to power in the 2023 NSW election, allowed each Labor candidate to nominate projects for $400,000 in funding. Nominations could be made by candidates with no prosect of winning. Several coalition MPs described the scheme as a "slush fund" where "taxpayer money is being used to try to buy votes". But Auditor-General Bola Oyetunji said the government had effectively administered the program and complied with grants administration laws as it divvied the pot between 644 projects. He identified two concerns around conflicts of interest of 54 panel members recommending the grants and minor administrative errors. Liberal MP Chris Rath, who was among a group of MPs critical of the grant, argued the report was "scathing." He called on Premier Chris Minns to order a conflict of interest check on all 93 Labor candidates the party fielded in 2023. The government office overseeing the grants program only reviewed such checks for 17 candidates, put forward by Special Minister of State John Graham. Two grants were subsequently not approved. The office said it had received verbal confirmation that conflict-of-interest processes had been implemented by Labor for all electorates. But it hadn't asked for documentation supporting those claims, the auditor-general's report said. More than 50 "moderate risk" conflicts of interest of panel members approving a total of 644 grants also should have been passed onto a probity adviser before ending up on the special minister's desk, the report said. A spokesman for Mr Graham said it accepted the audit office's recommendations to tighten up its processes. Labor's grants program followed a report in two damning indictments of coalition-organised grants programs. A 2023 report from the auditor-general found the former coalition government intervened to effectively exclude Labor electorates from receiving bushfire recovery funding. Another grants round, the $252 million Stronger Communities Fund, came under a cloud when an upper house inquiry found 95 per cent of the funds went to councils in coalition-held or marginal seats under the Berejiklian government. A controversial community grant scheme spreading $37.2 million across 93 electorates has been cleared of pork-barrelling claims but conflicts of interest concerns linger. The NSW auditor-general on Thursday published its verdict after two years of consternation from the coalition over the integrity, efficacy and value of Labor's taxpayer-funded Local Small Commitments Allocation scheme. The grants program, announced by Labor before it swept to power in the 2023 NSW election, allowed each Labor candidate to nominate projects for $400,000 in funding. Nominations could be made by candidates with no prosect of winning. Several coalition MPs described the scheme as a "slush fund" where "taxpayer money is being used to try to buy votes". But Auditor-General Bola Oyetunji said the government had effectively administered the program and complied with grants administration laws as it divvied the pot between 644 projects. He identified two concerns around conflicts of interest of 54 panel members recommending the grants and minor administrative errors. Liberal MP Chris Rath, who was among a group of MPs critical of the grant, argued the report was "scathing." He called on Premier Chris Minns to order a conflict of interest check on all 93 Labor candidates the party fielded in 2023. The government office overseeing the grants program only reviewed such checks for 17 candidates, put forward by Special Minister of State John Graham. Two grants were subsequently not approved. The office said it had received verbal confirmation that conflict-of-interest processes had been implemented by Labor for all electorates. But it hadn't asked for documentation supporting those claims, the auditor-general's report said. More than 50 "moderate risk" conflicts of interest of panel members approving a total of 644 grants also should have been passed onto a probity adviser before ending up on the special minister's desk, the report said. A spokesman for Mr Graham said it accepted the audit office's recommendations to tighten up its processes. Labor's grants program followed a report in two damning indictments of coalition-organised grants programs. A 2023 report from the auditor-general found the former coalition government intervened to effectively exclude Labor electorates from receiving bushfire recovery funding. Another grants round, the $252 million Stronger Communities Fund, came under a cloud when an upper house inquiry found 95 per cent of the funds went to councils in coalition-held or marginal seats under the Berejiklian government. A controversial community grant scheme spreading $37.2 million across 93 electorates has been cleared of pork-barrelling claims but conflicts of interest concerns linger. The NSW auditor-general on Thursday published its verdict after two years of consternation from the coalition over the integrity, efficacy and value of Labor's taxpayer-funded Local Small Commitments Allocation scheme. The grants program, announced by Labor before it swept to power in the 2023 NSW election, allowed each Labor candidate to nominate projects for $400,000 in funding. Nominations could be made by candidates with no prosect of winning. Several coalition MPs described the scheme as a "slush fund" where "taxpayer money is being used to try to buy votes". But Auditor-General Bola Oyetunji said the government had effectively administered the program and complied with grants administration laws as it divvied the pot between 644 projects. He identified two concerns around conflicts of interest of 54 panel members recommending the grants and minor administrative errors. Liberal MP Chris Rath, who was among a group of MPs critical of the grant, argued the report was "scathing." He called on Premier Chris Minns to order a conflict of interest check on all 93 Labor candidates the party fielded in 2023. The government office overseeing the grants program only reviewed such checks for 17 candidates, put forward by Special Minister of State John Graham. Two grants were subsequently not approved. The office said it had received verbal confirmation that conflict-of-interest processes had been implemented by Labor for all electorates. But it hadn't asked for documentation supporting those claims, the auditor-general's report said. More than 50 "moderate risk" conflicts of interest of panel members approving a total of 644 grants also should have been passed onto a probity adviser before ending up on the special minister's desk, the report said. A spokesman for Mr Graham said it accepted the audit office's recommendations to tighten up its processes. Labor's grants program followed a report in two damning indictments of coalition-organised grants programs. A 2023 report from the auditor-general found the former coalition government intervened to effectively exclude Labor electorates from receiving bushfire recovery funding. Another grants round, the $252 million Stronger Communities Fund, came under a cloud when an upper house inquiry found 95 per cent of the funds went to councils in coalition-held or marginal seats under the Berejiklian government. A controversial community grant scheme spreading $37.2 million across 93 electorates has been cleared of pork-barrelling claims but conflicts of interest concerns linger. The NSW auditor-general on Thursday published its verdict after two years of consternation from the coalition over the integrity, efficacy and value of Labor's taxpayer-funded Local Small Commitments Allocation scheme. The grants program, announced by Labor before it swept to power in the 2023 NSW election, allowed each Labor candidate to nominate projects for $400,000 in funding. Nominations could be made by candidates with no prosect of winning. Several coalition MPs described the scheme as a "slush fund" where "taxpayer money is being used to try to buy votes". But Auditor-General Bola Oyetunji said the government had effectively administered the program and complied with grants administration laws as it divvied the pot between 644 projects. He identified two concerns around conflicts of interest of 54 panel members recommending the grants and minor administrative errors. Liberal MP Chris Rath, who was among a group of MPs critical of the grant, argued the report was "scathing." He called on Premier Chris Minns to order a conflict of interest check on all 93 Labor candidates the party fielded in 2023. The government office overseeing the grants program only reviewed such checks for 17 candidates, put forward by Special Minister of State John Graham. Two grants were subsequently not approved. The office said it had received verbal confirmation that conflict-of-interest processes had been implemented by Labor for all electorates. But it hadn't asked for documentation supporting those claims, the auditor-general's report said. More than 50 "moderate risk" conflicts of interest of panel members approving a total of 644 grants also should have been passed onto a probity adviser before ending up on the special minister's desk, the report said. A spokesman for Mr Graham said it accepted the audit office's recommendations to tighten up its processes. Labor's grants program followed a report in two damning indictments of coalition-organised grants programs. A 2023 report from the auditor-general found the former coalition government intervened to effectively exclude Labor electorates from receiving bushfire recovery funding. Another grants round, the $252 million Stronger Communities Fund, came under a cloud when an upper house inquiry found 95 per cent of the funds went to councils in coalition-held or marginal seats under the Berejiklian government.
Perth Now
10 hours ago
- Politics
- Perth Now
Labor's pork-barrelling answer managed 'effectively'
A controversial community grant scheme spreading $37.2 million across 93 electorates has been cleared of pork-barrelling claims but conflicts of interest concerns linger. The NSW auditor-general on Thursday published its verdict after two years of consternation from the coalition over the integrity, efficacy and value of Labor's taxpayer-funded Local Small Commitments Allocation scheme. The grants program, announced by Labor before it swept to power in the 2023 NSW election, allowed each Labor candidate to nominate projects for $400,000 in funding. Nominations could be made by candidates with no prosect of winning. Several coalition MPs described the scheme as a "slush fund" where "taxpayer money is being used to try to buy votes". But Auditor-General Bola Oyetunji said the government had effectively administered the program and complied with grants administration laws as it divvied the pot between 644 projects. He identified two concerns around conflicts of interest of 54 panel members recommending the grants and minor administrative errors. Liberal MP Chris Rath, who was among a group of MPs critical of the grant, argued the report was "scathing." He called on Premier Chris Minns to order a conflict of interest check on all 93 Labor candidates the party fielded in 2023. The government office overseeing the grants program only reviewed such checks for 17 candidates, put forward by Special Minister of State John Graham. Two grants were subsequently not approved. The office said it had received verbal confirmation that conflict-of-interest processes had been implemented by Labor for all electorates. But it hadn't asked for documentation supporting those claims, the auditor-general's report said. More than 50 "moderate risk" conflicts of interest of panel members approving a total of 644 grants also should have been passed onto a probity adviser before ending up on the special minister's desk, the report said. A spokesman for Mr Graham said it accepted the audit office's recommendations to tighten up its processes. Labor's grants program followed a report in two damning indictments of coalition-organised grants programs. A 2023 report from the auditor-general found the former coalition government intervened to effectively exclude Labor electorates from receiving bushfire recovery funding. Another grants round, the $252 million Stronger Communities Fund, came under a cloud when an upper house inquiry found 95 per cent of the funds went to councils in coalition-held or marginal seats under the Berejiklian government.
AU Financial Review
14-05-2025
- Politics
- AU Financial Review
‘Go back to Melbourne': NSW Liberals call to end intervention
Follow our live coverage of the fallout from the 2025 federal election NSW Liberals say the disastrous federal election defeat should spell the end of intervention in the state division, with leading moderate Chris Rath warning Victorians managing the takeover to 'go back to Melbourne'.
Sydney Morning Herald
14-05-2025
- Politics
- Sydney Morning Herald
‘Go home to Melbourne': Liberal moderates turn on party after historic election defeat
Moderate Liberal Chris Rath has sprayed the committee appointed to oversee the party in NSW, calling for two of them to 'go home to Melbourne' as a factional conflict over reform threatens to reignite. Brought in by then-leader Peter Dutton after the NSW Liberals' calamitous failure to nominate 140 candidates in local government elections last September, the administration committee has been canvassing federal Liberals to seek an extension to implement their reform agenda. The three-person committee of veteran Victorians Alan Stockdale and Richard Alston and former NSW MP Peta Seaton was appointed as temporary replacements for the division's dysfunctional state executive. The trio was responsible for greenlighting decisions made by state director Chris Stone throughout the campaign while searching for solutions to remedy the party's tribalism. The troika's 10-month tenure is set to expire on June 30. Moderates' attempts to see off an extension were boosted by Sussan Ley's win over conservative Angus Taylor in Tuesday morning's Liberal leadership ballot. With Ley backed by moderate and centre-right members, Liberal insiders believed the powerbrokers would push for a swift end to the committee's work when its term expired and the usual state executive structure would return. But the Coalition's election bloodbath has reignited factional grievances over the decision to take over the NSW division last year. Moderates say the troika must take responsibility for Liberals losing three seats in NSW as part of a 3.9 per cent swing against the party – worse than the national average. Rath said: 'The admin committee has presided over our worst defeat in history. Maybe if they were more focused on the election rather than obsessing over constitutional reform we would've had a better result. 'It's time they go home to Melbourne and give the party back to the party members.'
The Age
14-05-2025
- Politics
- The Age
‘Go home to Melbourne': Liberal moderates turn on party after historic election defeat
Moderate Liberal Chris Rath has sprayed the committee appointed to oversee the party in NSW, calling for two of them to 'go home to Melbourne' as a factional conflict over reform threatens to reignite. Brought in by then-leader Peter Dutton after the NSW Liberals' calamitous failure to nominate 140 candidates in local government elections last September, the administration committee has been canvassing federal Liberals to seek an extension to implement their reform agenda. The three-person committee of veteran Victorians Alan Stockdale and Richard Alston and former NSW MP Peta Seaton was appointed as temporary replacements for the division's dysfunctional state executive. The trio was responsible for greenlighting decisions made by state director Chris Stone throughout the campaign while searching for solutions to remedy the party's tribalism. The troika's 10-month tenure is set to expire on June 30. Moderates' attempts to see off an extension were boosted by Sussan Ley's win over conservative Angus Taylor in Tuesday morning's Liberal leadership ballot. With Ley backed by moderate and centre-right members, Liberal insiders believed the powerbrokers would push for a swift end to the committee's work when its term expired and the usual state executive structure would return. But the Coalition's election bloodbath has reignited factional grievances over the decision to take over the NSW division last year. Moderates say the troika must take responsibility for Liberals losing three seats in NSW as part of a 3.9 per cent swing against the party – worse than the national average. Rath said: 'The admin committee has presided over our worst defeat in history. Maybe if they were more focused on the election rather than obsessing over constitutional reform we would've had a better result. 'It's time they go home to Melbourne and give the party back to the party members.'
