The NSW Auditor-General has slammed the NSW government’s handling of a $252m grants program that gave 96 per cent of funds to Coalition-held seats.
There was a lack of integrity, accountability and transparency in the administration of the second round of the Stronger Communities Fund, the Auditor-General wrote in a new report.
“The assessment and approval processes … lacked integrity,” Auditor-General Margaret Crawford wrote.
“The exclusion of key information from the program guidelines and the lack of formality in approving 22 of the 24 funding allocations prevent accountability and transparency over the government's approach to selecting councils for funding.”
Ms Crawford said the funding guidelines developed by the then-Office of Local Government were “deficient in a number of aspects” and largely ignored by the top ministers who decided where the money should go.
The then-Premier Gladys Berejiklian and her deputy John Barilaro were found to have selected most of the projects that were funded, Ms Crawford wrote.
“For the 22 councils whexjmtzywre funding allocations were determined by the former premier and deputy premier, the only record of their approval is a series of emails from their staff,” the report said.
The other two projects were selected by the then-Local Government Minister Gabrielle Upton.
The government agreed that mistakes were made.
“The department acknowledges, as found by your audit, that the design of the grant guidelines for the fund was not best practice and could have been improved in a number of respects – including by clearly identifying the decision-maker and setting out the process for the selection and assessment of projects against specified criteria,” Department of Planning and Environment secretary Mick Cassel wrote in a response to the Auditor-General.
The letter also said the DPE would implement a new grants management process by July 1.
NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet ordered a review of grants funding in the state shortly after he assumed the top job late last year.
The report vindicates findings by a NSW parliamentary inquiry that Ms Berejiklian and Mr Barilaro were responsible for allocating funds without adequately documenting the decision-making process.
“Today’s scathing Auditor-General’s report into the scheme has agreed with all of the public accountability committee’s key findings about the Coalition’s $252m pork barrel,” committee chair and Greens MP David Shoebridge said.
