When a spade is called a spade
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PM denies vote buying after grants audit
By Sandra O'Malley, Melissa Jenkins and Maria Hawthorne
November 15, 2007 08:01pm
Article from: AAP
PRIME Minister John Howard's re-election chances have been dealt a blow by a damning report which finds the regional grants program has been used for pork-barrelling in Coalition electorates.
Just over a week out from polling day, and with a new poll showing little reduction in Labor's lead, the Coalition's reputation for economic management has been called into question in a scathing report by Auditor-General Ian McPhee.
The report is critical of the administration of the Regional Partnerships Program (RPP) and says ministers often went against public servants' advice by giving money to Coalition electorates.
And in one 90-minute period on the eve of the 2004 federal election campaign, parliamentary secretary De-Anne Kelly rushed through approvals for 16 projects worth more than $3.3m.
Opposition Leader Kevin Rudd said the report revealed another example of an arrogant and out-of-touch Government which had used taxpayer funds to buy votes in the run-up to the 2004 poll.
And Mr Howard may face further fall-out with one of his senior advisers, Peter Langhorne, an ex-chief of staff to former Nationals leader John Anderson, caught up in the row.
Mr Langhorne was found to have had a role in pushing for funding for an ethanol plan in Gunnedah, in Mr Anderson's electorate of Gwydir, even though the project was assessed as high-risk.
Mr McPhee examined $400m allocated by the Government's controversial RPP between 2003 and 2006 and found it fell short of "an acceptable standard of public administration".
His three-volume, 1200-page report found dozens of instances where ministers had overridden departmental recommendations to give the tick to projects in Coalition electorates.
And in many instances, ministers blocked grants in Labor seats even though the department deemed them worthy.
Mr Rudd demanded the Prime Minister accept responsibility for the pork-barrelling scandal.
"Mr Howard must today accept responsibility for the arrogant abuse of this $328m program," Mr Rudd said.
"Mr Howard on the eve of an election must at least explain to the Australian people how these abuses of a $328m taxpayer program have occurred."
Of the $400m allocated to the program, only $328m was spent.
Mr Rudd said the report showed the Howard Government had arrogantly ignored the advice of independent public servants and abused taxpayers' dollars to get themselves re-elected in 2004.
"I presume they are doing the same again today," he said. -
The Coalition today continued to defend the regional grants program and Mr Howard, campaigning in far north Queensland, told reporters he had not seen the report.
But he said more grants had gone to Coalition electorates because they held all the rural seats in Australia.
"The Labor party doesn't hold one seat in Australia that can be called a rural seat and most of the regional seats in Australia are held by the Coalition at present," Mr Howard said.
"That's got to mean that if you are to have a fair application, you are going to end up with more of these grants going to Coalition seats than Labor seats simply because we hold most of them."
Nationals leader Mark Vaile refused to apologise for the program, which he said had delivered jobs to the bush.
"This is a very good program that has delivered some fantastic outcomes to regional Australia and I don't apologise for it – not for one minute," he said in Taree.
The damning revelations were a gift to Labor, which was basking in the positive headlines following its campaign launch in Brisbane yesterday.
And the latest Nielsen Poll, to be published in Fairfax newspapers tomorrow, showed Labor maintaining its election-winning lead with 54 per cent of the two-party preferred vote, down one percentage point. The Coalition was on 46 per cent, up one point.
The Government continued to attack Labor over its economic credentials but its criticisms, along with the announcement of a $250m aged care plan, were drowned out today by the regional grants scandal.
The revelations also overshadowed a gaffe by Mr Howard, who forgot how many days there were to the end of the campaign.
The long-suffering public has lived through months of phoney campaigning and a lengthy six-week official campaign but Mr Howard appeared keen today to extend it by three days.
He mistakenly told journalists there were 12 days to election day, when there are in fact nine. -
And you'd think our Auditor-General will criticise the discriminatory policies of redevelopment of PAP held seats over those held by the WP and SDA..
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Australian elections are fun to watch ....you get to see all the dirt pulled up on each party , all the allegations , all the mud slinging.