2026-09-08
The Australian Greens are calling on the Prime Minister to urgently front up over reports that a $560 million Major and Local Community Infrastructure grants program was overwhelmingly directed to Labor-held and competitive electorates.
Centre for Public Integrity analysis found no clear relationship between funding allocations and either community need or household income. One of the only golf clubs invited to apply was Marrickville Golf Club in the Prime Minister’s own electorate, which received $6 million.
Greens spokesperson for Democracy, Senator Steph Hodgins-May, said the Prime Minister should front the Joint Standing Committee on Electoral Matters, which is currently conducting its inquiry into the 2025 federal election, and answer questions about the grant process himself.
Lines attributable to Senator Hodgins-May:
“Community funding should be based on need, not whether you live in a marginal seat that Labor thinks it can win.
“The Prime Minister needs to explain why 45 electorates were locked out of a $560 million grants program, while almost three quarters of the money went to Labor-held seats.
“Public money is not Labor Party money. I’m calling on the Prime Minister to front the inquiry into the 2025 election and explain this grant process.
“There are serious questions for the Prime Minister about the $6 million handed to Marrickville Golf Club in his own electorate. If this was a fair process, why weren’t other community organisations even given the chance to apply?
“Labor had one standard in opposition, when it rightly condemned the Morrison government’s sports rorts. Now it’s in government, it seems to think a different set of rules apply.
“You can’t condemn pork-barrelling in opposition and then hand out hundreds of millions of dollars behind closed doors when you’re in government.
“Australians deserve better than a government that says one thing in opposition and does another when it gets into power.
“Invite-only grant programs need to end. If we want to restore some trust in our democracy, public money needs to be allocated openly, transparently and on the basis of need - not electoral strategy.”