Coalition confirms Senate deal with Centre Alliance to prevent 'disruption' but denies quid pro quo for grants
The Coalition has a written deal with Centre Alliance to prevent “gratuitous disruption” of government business in the Senate, Mathias Cormann has revealed.
The government leader in the Senate confirmed the deal in an estimates committee on Wednesday, as Labor probed whether $40m secured by Centre Alliance for South Australia had any connection to Senate cooperation between the minor party and government.
Centre Alliance senator, Stirling Griff, told Guardian Australia although the minor party has a procedural deal with the government it has “nothing whatsoever” to do with grants in MP Rebekha Sharkie’s seat of Mayo and Labor had sought a similar agreement before the last election.
In the finance and public administration committee, Labor’s Katy Gallagher asked Cormann whether the Coalition had a deal with Centre Alliance to vote with the government on procedural motions.
“We certainly have an agreement that Centre Alliance would not be supporting Labor attempts to disrupt the government’s program,” he replied.
Griff said the written agreement is 18 months to two years old, and sets out that in the ordinary course of events the government should be able to present its legislation to the Senate without disruption.
The deal is subject to a list of exceptions including disallowance motions, matters pertaining to South Australia, allegations of misconduct and privileges issues, contempt of the Senate and failure to comply with orders to produce documents.
Griff said before the 2019 election Labor had asked the minor party for the same type of assurances.
After the October budget, Sharkie wrote to constituents that Centre Alliance had “directly negotiated” $40m of road, sporting and health projects including $15m for road upgrades near the Verdun interchange, $12m for overtaking lanes on Victor Harbor Road, and two $5m grants for sports centres in Mount Barker and Goolwa.
Asked whether the government gave undertakings to fund projects in return for Senate votes, Cormann said “no” he had never written a deal offering such a quid pro quo.
“Of course, it’s a matter of public record I’ve made commitments on behalf of the government on matters raised with us,” he said.
Griff and a spokeswoman for Sharkie have also denied trading votes, such as their support for the Coalition’s higher education package, for budget funding. Sharkie has faced a backlash over the higher education vote, even denying that she will join the Liberal party in the wake of the controversy.
Griff said the procedural deal prevents “malicious disruption” of government business to stop parties “playing games” in the Senate, and the same would apply to both sides of politics in government.
He said there was “no connection” between grants funding and the procedural deal or other Senate votes, including on higher education.
“The government wants to look good in Mayo – it’s an investment in their future,” he said. “They want to keep voters sweet in Mayo, so they’re very receptive to any proposal.”
On Tuesday Labor and the Greens questioned a $103m top-up in the budget for the community development grant program that paid for the two $5m Mayo projects and a $23m grant to the Rocky Sports Club for its proposed 16,000 seat stadium in Rockhampton.
The grant was announced by both National MP Michelle Landry and Pauline Hanson, prompting anger from former Nationals leader Barnaby Joyce that the One Nation leader had claimed credit for the government project.
On Tuesday infrastructure department officials revealed the $103m has also funded a $3.5m Holocaust museum in Queensland and four more projects in Mayo:
$2.6m for the Amy Gillett Bikeway between Mount Torrens and Birdwood
$1.5m for the McLaren Vale to McLaren Flat pathway
$1m for the Mount Barker and Victor Harbour TAFE campuses; and
$300,000 for the Yankalilla community library
Of the remaining funding, some $35m is for “decisions taken but not yet announced” while $27m has not been allocated.
In the hearing, Greens senator Janet Rice said it was “very suspicious” that most of the grants had gone to South Australia while the government was negotiating with Centre Alliance over higher education changes.
Rice told Guardian Australia the projects were “all in places that would help the Morrison government secure minor party votes”.
“The [community development grants] are a slush fund for the government to try to buy votes at election time.
“Now it looks like the Liberals are using it as a slush fund to buy votes from minor parties in the Senate too.”
Griff said the only deal done on higher education was for improvements to that bill, including more places for South Australian universities, protections for struggling students and four study hubs in South Australia.