Coalition gave out $100m in pre-election grants favouring targeted seats, audit office says

Sport grants were at odds with program guidelines and not assessed on merit, according to auditor general’s report

The Coalition awarded $100m in sport grants that were not assessed on their merits in order to favour “targeted” Coalition seats at the May 2019 election, according to a scathing report from the Australian National Audit Office released on Wednesday.

The report, by auditor general Grant Hehir, slammed the handling of the program by the then sports minister, Nationals deputy leader Bridget McKenzie, finding she ignored the merit-based assessment undertaken by Sports Australia for almost half the successful projects.

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from World news | The Guardian https://ift.tt/381lRhU