Prime Minister Scott Morrison authorised the use of $15 million taxpayer funds to upgrade a commuter car park simply by issuing a press release along with five other Liberal MPs saying it would happen.
The project, one of 47 funded in a program slammed by the auditor-general for being opaque and failing to award funds based on merit, has since been cancelled.
Former Finance Department deputy secretary Stephen Bartos said the use of a press release to allocate money was “appalling governance”, even though it was within the law.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison with Michael Sukkar (centre) and then-urban infrastructure minister Alan Tudge (at right) at a campaign event in Mr Sukkar’s electorate during the 2019 federal election.Credit:Dominic Lorrimer
Mr Morrison and then-urban infrastructure minister Alan Tudge used the $660 million commuter car park program to promise new car parks and upgrades near train stations at 47 sites in the lead-up to the 2019 election.
Labor damned the program as a “rort” and vowed to use Parliament to investigate how the money was spent.
The projects were overwhelmingly in Coalition-held or marginal Labor seats and the government could not demonstrate they were chosen on merit, the Australian National Audit Office said.
In the case of the planned park and ride at Mitcham train station, in suburban eastern Melbourne, the auditors couldn’t find any documented approval for it to go ahead in the Infrastructure Department’s records.
The Mitcham car park was one of five chosen in the electorate of Deakin, held by Assistant Treasurer Michael Sukkar despite a small swing against him at the 2019 election.
The ANAO asked for “evidence of the authority to select this car park site” and the department offered a press release from Mr Morrison, Mr Tudge, Mr Sukkar and fellow Liberal MPs Tony Smith, Jason Wood and Tim Wilson.
“Michael Sukkar, Tony Smith, Jason Wood and Tim Wilson have all called for congestion-busting investments to help local families and businesses,” Mr Morrison said in the press release.
Auditors also could not find documented reasons why the Mitcham site was chosen, apart from those suggested in the press release.
The department told auditors there was precedent for a media announcement by the Prime Minister forming the basis of authority to progress a project.
Mr Bartos said ministers could issue decisions by letters and could do so through press releases as well, but he said that did not mean it was a good approach to managing public funds.
“There may be enough authority for it because it falls within the appropriation but it’s terribly bad practice,” he said.
“There has been a prolific number of grant programs where dodgy criteria have been used, so it is not surprising.
“But it is really bad practice to do project selection by media release.”
There was $15 million allocated to the Mitcham project, but it was cancelled on April 15, 2021.
Three other projects were also cancelled in April: at Balaclava station in the electorate of Labor MP Josh Burns, and at Kananook and Seaford stations in the electorate of Dunkley, which Labor’s Peta Murphy won from Liberal Chris Crewther.
Mr Morrison approved funding for 27 of the 47 projects the day before the federal election was called.
Labor had also proposed park and ride projects in the lead up to the 2019 election, with the ANAO report noting the government’s reasons for choosing four of the projects explicitly stated it was because they had been “committed to by federal Labor”.
However, then-leader Bill Shorten’s announcement of Labor’s plan in mid-2018 said “local and state governments will be asked to demonstrate that a car park is the best solution and most cost-effective way to use available land” before being given any grants.
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