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The Guardian
19 hours ago
- Politics
- The Guardian
Review of NSW Labor's controversial $37m election fund urges rapid overhaul of grant guidelines
A controversial $37m New South Wales grants program which began as a 2023 election slush fund available to Labor candidates and members to offer to local community groups has revealed weaknesses in the state's grants making guidelines. The NSW auditor general, Bola Oyetunji, found that he was unable to review how Labor had administered the Local Small Commitments Allocation (LSCA) grants prior to winning government. Oyetunji concluded in his report that the grant guidelines should be overhauled as 'a matter of priority' to deal with election promises that later led to allocations of government money. The LSCA program gave $400,000 to each electorate, but the projects were nominated by Labor candidates only. When it became known about after the 2023 election, won by Labor, it sparked outrage from the opposition and minor parties because they had no opportunity to nominate projects, even if they were the sitting members. The LSCA is now the subject of a parliamentary inquiry, amid allegations that some Labor MPs were on the boards of, or had ties to, organisations that they recommended for funding. Oyetunji noted that once the bureaucracy took over the program, after the election, the program was largely run 'effectively'. Earlier, it was largely not transparent, he said. Sign up for Guardian Australia's breaking news email The auditor general found the Program Office which took over the grants program had reviewed the potential conflicts of interest of just 17 candidates out of 93, which were put forward by the special minister of state. 'The Program Office was told that NSW Labor had put in place conflict of interest processes to make sure the candidate did not have any issues, but the office did not seek any documentation supporting NSW Labor's conflicts of interest assessments,' Oyetunji said. He said there was little he could do, because the NSW Labor party was not within his remit. 'These activities fall outside the scope of the auditor general's mandate,' Oyetunji said. Instead he recommended: 'The guide [on administering grants] could be clearer about how the public sector is to administer grants involving election commitments.' Sign up to Breaking News Australia Get the most important news as it breaks after newsletter promotion The LSCA program began as a policy proposal of NSW Labor prior to the March 2023 election. It involved an allocation of $400,000 to each NSW electorate to fund the election commitments of local Labor candidates in accordance with program guidelines. After the election, the scheme was handed to the NSW government's Program Office, which engaged a probity adviser on 25 July 2023. But the adviser was not involved in any events before this date. The premier's office provided the Program Office with a list of election commitments and the Program Office invited the nominated organisations on the list to submit applications to deliver small local projects. The auditor found that once Labor won the election and handed to the Program office within the government, it was mostly run 'effectively'. The audit identified two exceptions: 54 assessment panel members' conflicts were not identified and managed from a total of 644 approved projects, and there were some other minor administrative errors. Oyetunji said the NSW government should consider updating the Grants Administration Guide to include additional guidance on how the public sector is to address financial accountability, probity, record keeping and administrative obligations when a grants administration process has been initiated as an election commitment. He also recommended the Program Office should ensure conflicts of interest processes are implemented as intended for all future grant programs.
ABC News
16-06-2025
- ABC News
Four people have died in e-scooter crashes in Queensland so far this year, data reveals
Data has revealed four e-scooter riders have died on Queensland roads so far this year, with users urged to take the laws more seriously. Police data shows more than 2,700 infringements for illegal road use were issued to users of personal mobility devices — or PMDs — between November 2022 and December 2024. More than 65 per cent of infringements in that period involved failing to wear a helmet, carrying passengers, or illegal road use. Already this year, police have issued 1,094 infringements for riding without a helmet. Eight people died while riding e-scooters or e-bikes in Queensland last year. Queensland laws permit the riding of PMDs on suburban roads with speed limits at or below 50 kilometres per hour, and they can't be used on highways or major arterial roads. E-scooters and e-bikes must travel at a speed of 12kph or slower on footpaths and 25kph on roads and bike paths. Children under 12 are prohibited from riding e-scooters or e-bikes, with adult supervision required for those under the age of 15. The Queensland government launched a parliamentary inquiry last month into the safe use of PMDs, citing a 112 per cent rise in injuries to riders, passengers, and pedestrians from 2021 to 2024. Queensland Transport Minister Brent Mickelberg said he is committed to a "whole of government" approach to regulation. "What's clear is the current framework isn't working, that's why we've announced this parliamentary inquiry," he told ABC Radio Brisbane. "This is all about trying to collate all of the views and opinions, the evidence base, to be able to better put together a framework that works. "Tragically, we've seen far too many injuries as well over the last couple of years — 112 per cent increase since 2021 to 24. "So, it's not just the enforcement, it's also resulting in both deaths and injuries, and we must tackle it in a different way." The inquiry is accepting public submissions until Friday. In one submission to the inquiry, made by resident Geoff Thomas, he called for PMDs that can travel over a certain speed to be registered like motor vehicles. "These are basically motorcycles without any form of regulation," he said. "Registered owners would be required to follow road rules, wear appropriate safety equipment, be of a certain age to operate them and obviously pay fines and a registration fee, which could also raise revenue." E-bike user Mal Shipton submitted that restricting PMDs to privately-owned devices would regulate the "casual attitudes" of current users. "At Kangaroo Point, we suffer a lot of scooters being abandoned so as to even block a footpath," the submission read. "According to the stats on the Green Bridge, bicycles outnumber scooters by double yet do not have anything like the impact as mentioned above. "I would think this is because most bikes are privately owned." The committee is due to report by March next year.
