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.
As stated by Senator Janet Rice, Greens spokesperson for Sport
“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.”
