Minister member of cash row club

EMBATTLED cabinet member Bridget McKenzie is under immense pressure over revelations she awarded a shooting club nearly $36,000 without publicly declaring she was a member. The Nationals deputy leader has been engulfed by a growing controversy surrounding a $100 million sports grants program being labelled a slush fund. A damning auditor-general’s report has found the former sports minister splashed most of the cash in marginal seats ahead of last year’s federal election. Senator McKenzie approved the windfall for a clay shooting club at Wangaratta on February 25 last year. She made the announcement alongside Nationals candidate Mark Byatt, who was contesting the regional Victorian seat of Indi, which was eventually won by independent Helen Haines. Senator McKenzie failed to disclose she was a member of the club when her register of interests was last updated on November 21, it was reported yesterday. In all, the auditor-general found 73 per cent of the projects Senator McKenzie approved were not recommended by Sport Australia. A spokeswoman for Senator McKenzie said the Wangaratta Clay Target Club membership was a “gift” worth less than $300, making a declaration to the Senate “unnecessary”. “Round-two funding became available in December 2018 at MYEFO and funding decisions were made from that time,” the spokeswoman told media outlets. Senior ministers are rallying around Senator McKenzie, who has refused to apologise.

Nationals frontbencher David Littleproud said there had been “a lot of hysteria” around the so-called “sports rorts” scandal.

“We’ve gone further to ensure that the attorney-general looks through the legalities but there’s a lot of stuff swirling around,” he told reporters in NSW.

“Before we jump to conclusions, we need to be fair. We live in a fair country.

“We need to work through this in a calm, methodical way and get the facts out.”

Opposition leader Anthony Albanese renewed calls for the minister to resign.

“This is a rort. Bridget McKenzie must resign,” he said.

BEFORE WE JUMP TO CONCLUSIONS, WE NEED TO BE FAIR. WE LIVE IN A FAIR COUNTRY. WE NEED TO WORK THROUGH THIS

DAVID LITTLEPROUD