KATINA CURTIS: Grants spendathon splashes $1.7 billion before Federal election

The Federal political bubble is in a holding pattern, caught between the election campaign we thought we would be in by now and next week’s Budget few thought we would have.

This stasis hasn’t stopped ministers crossing the country to continue a cash splash that has seen more than $1.7 billion announced over the past 10 weeks.

In the past fortnight alone, some $400 million has been unveiled.

This doesn’t include election promises; this is guaranteed cash for councils and community organisations and the occasional State government.

The spending has primarily come from infrastructure grant schemes offering taxpayer funding for everything from swimming pools and sportsground upgrades to building community centres and electrifying council facilities.

It’s prompted shadow minister James Stevens to accuse the Government of a spendathon putting further pressure on inflation and household costs.

“The campaign hasn’t even started yet. Taxpayers will see straight through Labor’s shameless attempts to buy votes in the lead-up to the election,” he told this column.

The Government’s defence is partly that the money was already budgeted, meaning it shouldn’t add to inflationary pressures.

The other defence boils down to “everyone does it” — and they’re not pork-barrelling as egregiously as the other mob.

A spokesperson said the Albanese Government had restored integrity to community infrastructure funding after its predecessors were upbraided by the auditor-general.

“The LNP record on grant programs included the damning 2020 ANAO report on the BBRF (Building Better Regions Fund) program which found the Coalition actively ignored grant guidelines and department recommendations,” they said.

They insist that electorate information was not provided at any stage of the application or assessment process.

Governments of all stripes have long used grants programs to give local MPs and candidates “announceables” ahead of elections, often accompanied by commentary around how their party is delivering for the community.

Analysis of discretionary funding grants before the 2022 election showed the Coalition government’s spending heavily favoured its own seats.

Labor’s spending so far this year has allocated about $127 million more to Liberal and National-held seats than Labor electorates, given many of the programs have been targeted at regional infrastructure.

But a more proportional split in the grants allocations doesn’t mean they don’t hold hopes of getting a boost out of the announcements.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese kicked off his political year with a tour of WA, Queensland and the NT where he announced more than $400 million in funding.

There has been nearly $147.5 million thrown at the seat of Leichhardt in Queensland’s far north — a key target Labor hopes to win with Liberal incumbent Warren Entsch retiring.

“We deliver for people wherever they live,” Albanese said when asked whether a pledge for a sporting high-performance centre in NSW’s Illawarra region was about shoring up a seat with a retiring MP.

It also doesn’t mean they shouldn’t be scrutinised.

It’s pretty convenient that all these programs happened to be ready to roll out at the same time — just weeks out from an election.