NSW premier attacks 'kangaroo court' after report into $37m grants scheme

NSW Premier Chris Minns took aim at the head of the committee, Greens MLC Abigail Boyd. (ABC News: Warwick Ford) NSW Premier Chris Minns has called a parliamentary inquiry that branded a Labor grants scheme as anti-democratic a "kangaroo court". The report found the premier's office 'unlawfully' moved $6.4 million of project funding and suggestion prosecutions for 'false statements' of witnesses. The government has rejected all the claims made by the Public Accountability and Works Committee's report. Link copiedShareShare articleNSW Premier Chris Minns has attacked a parliamentary inquiry that branded a Labor grants scheme as anti-democratic and an improper use of taxpayer funds. In the lead up to the 2023 state election, the then-opposition promised $400,000 for a community project nominated by the Labor candidate in every electorate. The parliamentary inquiry found the Local Small Commitments Allocation (LSCA) program was an "attempt to influence voters for electoral gain" rather than "for legitimate public purpose". In a scathing report released on Tuesday, Greens MLC Abigail Boyd, who headed the inquiry, called the $37 million scheme an "ill-conceived ploy" to give Labor candidates an advantage. Ms Boyd said the scheme was a Labor party "slush fund". (ABC News: Kathryn Diss) "The government's entire defence of this utterly inappropriate and anti-democratic scheme was to claim it does not fit their very narrow definition of 'pork-barrelling', as the total quantum of funds earmarked for expenditure was evenly distributed across the State," Ms Boyd wrote. "Ultimately, the most accurate way to describe this grants program is far more direct: a publicly-funded Labor party election slush fund." The inquiry by the Public Accountability and Works Committee found the conflict of interest process before the election was inadequate, allowing projects with conflicts to be nominated. The Premier's Department, which ran the scheme, assessed only 17 of the 93 electoral candidates for conflicts of interest, resulting in two grants not being approved. The committee found the premier's office "unlawfully redirected" $6.4 million away from projects originally promised, in breach of the program guidelines. During question time on Wednesday, Mr Minns mocked the investigation. "Scooby-Doo's Mystery Incorporated has more credibility than Abigail Boyd's upper house committee," Mr Minns said. Also on the committee are the Coalition's Chris Rath and Sarah Mitchell, and independent Mark Latham. Labor MLCs Mark Buttigieg, Sarah Kaine, and Peter Primrose make up the minority. In dissenting statements attached to the report, the government members called the document a "blatant abuse" of a committee process. "It is a matter of public record that the former government oversaw the systematic direction of public grant funding to politically favoured electorates," they wrote. In the report, Ms Boyd criticised the "race to the bottom" approach of the major parties. "We're supposed to take comfort in that it's apparently no worse than other pork-barrelling schemes before it, as if two wrongs can possibly make a right when we're talking about something so damaging to our democratic processes," she wrote. A report by the auditor-general last year found the program was "effectively administered", but its scope was limited to the program's administration after Labor won power. The inquiry found Special Minister of State John Graham, who was responsible for the scheme, gave untruthful evidence and misled parliament. Mr Graham denied misleading parliament. (ABC News) Mr Graham said the government rejected the entire report. The NSW premier faced an extraordinary question this week amid a deteriorating relationship between his government and the Legislative Council. The inquiry accused two of the premier's staffers, former Kogarah MP Cherie Burton and Paul Mills, of making false statements under oath and suggested prosecutions be considered. It also found the government communicates via disappearing messaging apps such as Signal to avoid compliance with orders for documents. "The use of Signal (and other similar apps) can only be seen as hiding information from the public," the report states. A NSW government spokesperson said it would not indulge the "conspiracy theories in this report".

NSW premier attacks 'kangaroo court' after report into $37m grants scheme

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