Pork-barreling and other forms of corruption are common in Australian politics and are undermining trust in democracy, says a former Australian judge.
Stephen Charles QC who was a judge of appeal in the Victorian Supreme Court is making the case for a Federal anti-corruption commission in Australia.
Scott Morrison's coalition government did propose the establishment of an anti-corruption commission in 2018, but when the idea finally reached legislative form in November 2020, it was widely panned by critics as so flawed as to be useless.
Photo: AFP
With another Federal Election due in mid-May, Charles says the Coalition won't hesitate to pour money into marginal seats.
He's co-written a book with Dr Catherine Williams called Keeping Them Honest.
In 2019, the Coalition government spent large sums of money in marginal electorates, he says.
"The first of these things to be exposed by the Auditor General was the sports programme. And that report made it clear that the coalition had spent $100 million in sporting grants to various bodies.
"They had a programme, which set up a series of guidelines and merit criteria. And the Sports Commission had produced a series of recommendations in accordance with those.
"However, when the matter got to the appropriate minister, which was Senator Bridget McKenzie, these guidelines were thrown out the window. And in place the Coalition spent that $100 million on marginal seats. And for the purpose of it, increasing the electoral vote in those dangerous seats.”
When the Auditor General was asked to investigate, the clear conclusion was that there had been bias in the distribution and the spending, Charles says.
Transparency International, the body that sets up the Corruptions Perceptions Index, said it was corruption, he says.
“Transparency’s definition of corruption is the abuse of interested power for personal or political game. And they made it perfectly clear that what had happened here was the spending of a very large amount of money for political gain, and consequently, it was political corruption.”
Another federally-funded grants programme was also used for electoral gain, he says.
“The Coalition decided to spend something like $700 million on carparks. In particular areas, this time, there were no guidelines, no merit criteria.
"What simply happened was that people in coalition, members’ and candidates in marginal seats would contact the cabinet and say, look we need some help here.
“The result was that $700 million was spent on setting up something like 47 car parks in individual electorates.”
The Auditor General came to the same conclusion of electoral bias In the spending, he says, and in a Senate inquiry that followed, Transparency made a submission, which said that it was corrupt political spending.
"The consequence, I might add, is that the Coalition Government has now been with us for nine years.”
Australia's rating on the Corruption Perceptions Index has fallen 11 levels from seventh to 18th, Charles says.
“This spending is in flagrant breach of the rule of law where we're in defiance of rulings of the High Court.
“And not only that it is an attempt to entrench a Coalition Government and unpopular government in power by the misuse of taxpayers‘ money”.
It goes beyond corruption, he says.
“That's an assault on democracy. To try to keep an unpopular government in power, potentially perpetually.”
The government has again kept a large pot of money for grants in the run up to this election, Charles says.
“There are a number of billions of dollars set aside for various grant programs, 5 or 6 billion and what we will need to do is be vigilant to see how that money is spent.”
Scott Morrison has brushed aside criticism of the so-called ‘sports rorts’ and car park spending, he says.
“The prime minister got up before the National Press Club, and this happened immediately after the auditor general's report, the prime minister was asked questions by eight or nine journalists, one after the other.
“And all of them were saying, what do you say about this misuse of taxpayers’ money, and he repeated time and again, in terms which were highly contemptuous of the journalist asking the questions, that there was absolutely nothing wrong with what had happened.
“It was simply a minister, making decisions in the interests of taxpayers who were very satisfied with what had happened. And she did an extremely good job, and there was nothing wrong at all.”
That was “brazen defiance of the truth,” Charles says.
“That was the point at which the prime minister lost my trust completely.”
He points out that of the 47 car parks promised, few have been built.
But one of the interesting points that follows is that 47 car parks were promised. In the last three years, only six of those have actually been built.
“In the Treasurer's electorate [Josh Frydenberg], there are four of these car parks and as far as I can see, they haven't even been started yet.
“There was a lot of complaint about how the car parks that had been chosen there were quite pointless, and more than pointless that they were all in the wrong place and would increase congestion.
“Now, Mr Frydenberg, recently said that he would cancel those carparks. Which sounds good, because now he's going to do away with it.
“What in fact it demonstrates is an admission that the decision to have those four car parks at the last election was completely wrong.”
The rort starts with an enfeebled public service, he says. A panel was set up to look at the role of the public service an reported to the Cabinet.
“It made a number of recommendations and recommendations which were intended to reproduce the equal relationship between public service experts and ministers and to arrive at a situation where ministers were able to get frank and fearless advice without fear of retribution.
“The prime minister, when he received this, did not act on those recommendations.”
State governments in Australia have brought in anti-corruption bodies and they have largely been a success, he says.
“The prime minister and the Coalition are plainly terrified of the prospect of a national integrity commission being brought in.”
The situation, he believes, has deteriorated in Australia.
“The evidence that we've now got through the Auditor General's reports suggests that government is now much more willing to spend lavishly in this way.”
