McKenzie likely to resign but may wait for report
AGRICULTURE Minister Bridget McKenzie looks set to resign within days, with the Coalition keen to head into the new parliamentary year next week with the sports grants scandal behind it.
The Victorian senator and Deputy Leader of the Nationals was last night refusing to go until she saw the results of an inquiry by the secretary of the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet, Phil Gaetjens.
The Gaetjens report, due to be handed to Prime Minister Scott Morrison as early as today, will determine whether Senator McKenzie breached ministerial standards when she used a $100 million taxpayerfunded sports grant program to pork-barrel targeted seats.
Senator McKenzie’s blatant use of the program, in which recommendations by the independent Sports Australia were ignored and money diverted to crucial seats ahead of the election, has been criticised by the federal Auditor-General.
Despite rumours last night that she was taking soundings
Coalition and from her Nationals colleagues about resigning, a source close to Senator McKenzie said she had not made a decision and was waiting for the report.
If she does resign as expected this week, the Government will be hoping it draws a line under the affair, which has seen Senator McKenzie go to ground for more than a week, and Liberal and Nationals MPs bombarded with angry calls and emails from community groups upset their grant applications were rejected.
However, scrutiny will continue on what level of involvement the Prime Minister’s Office had, with several advisers known to have been in constant contact with Senator McKenzie’s office about the handling of the grants.