Scott Morrison maintains sports grants were decided before final emails to his office
PM under pressure over evidence grant approval was dated 4 April despite exchange of emails on 10 April
Scott Morrison has attempted to step around evidence to the Senate inquiry probing the sports rorts controversy by asserting grants were approved by Bridget McKenzie on 4 April – days before before the parliament was dissolved for the 2019 election.
The Australian National Audit Office has told the Senate inquiry, in answers to questions on notice, that McKenzie, the former sports minister, wrote to the prime minister on 10 April attaching spreadsheets of projects she intended to fund, summarised by state, political party and electorate. She then provided the signed approval brief – dated 4 April – to Sport Australia on 11 April.
Sport Australia told the Senate inquiry on Thursday it received the final list of projects from the minister’s office 17 minutes after the government entered the caretaker period last April, and one day after it was sent to the prime minister’s office. ........
..... On Friday Morrison appeared to argue there was no breach of the caretaker convention because the decision was made on 4 April – even though the evidence to the Senate inquiry was that officials were sent the authorised brief after the parliament had been prorogued. ....
...... Luke McCann, Sport Australia’s chief operating officer, cited two instances when Robin O’Neill, the head of the infrastructure branch, warned McKenzie about the approval process on 5 December 2018 and again on 5 March 2019 when the minister’s office asked for blank application forms after the application process had closed.
Morrison attempted to step around that issue. “I’m not sure what you are referring to,” he told the ABC. “The government made decisions, through the sports minister, to award grants to a range of projects around the country and the government announced them.”
