Sports rorts: Bridget McKenzie to give evidence but says inquiry appearance a 'cheap political stunt'

Bridget McKenzie has offered to appear before the sports rorts inquiry for just one hour, warning she has nothing further to add and doesn’t wish to participate in a “cheap political stunt”.

The former federal sports minister wrote to the committee examining the $100m community sport infrastructure grant program disputing claims she had refused to appear but asking for more information to “justify [her] need to attend”.

McKenzie made a submission to the inquiry in April 2020, but the Laborchaired committee has asked for further information about the legal authority to make grants, and the process used to assess applications.

In January 2020, the auditor general released a scathing report finding the program was skewed toward Coalition

marginal and target seats, with an assessment process in McKenzie’s office used to overturn Sport Australia’s recommendations.

The report also found it was “not evident” what her legal authority was to make grants – a point that will be tested in ongoing litigation by the Beechworth Lawn Tennis Club.

McKenzie resigned over her undisclosed membership of a club that was awarded a grant but she has never conceded any other wrongdoing in the administration of the program.

In a letter on 15 January, McKenzie rejected claims she had “declined to appear” before the committee and labelled an order by the Senate for her to do so “unprecedented”.

McKenzie promised to “fulsomely cooperate” and offered to appear “on Friday 12 February 2021 between 3-4pm”.

“Despite several requests, I am yet to receive a detailed statement of matters to be dealt with during my appearance that I haven’t already addressed in my submission nor ‘a transcript of relevant evidence already taken’ by the committee that would justify my need to attend for any other reason than a cheap political stunt,” she wrote.

McKenzie argued she had already addressed relevant points in her writ

ten submission, citing passages claiming she had “ministerial discretion” to award grants and blaming the public service for failing to “resolve such legal issues” before the expenditure of taxpayer money.

She also claimed to have dealt with late changes to the list of final projects and communications between her office and the prime minister’s office about the program.

“As such, I have nothing further to add with respect to the topics outlined in your correspondence.”

The shadow sports minister, Don Farrell, accused the Morrison government of “dodging accountability” for the sports grant program.

“Bridget McKenzie, the former minister who orchestrated the scheme for Scott Morrison’s reelection, is now trying to dictate what a parliamentary inquiry can ask her,” he told Guardian Australia.

“She can start with showing up, and telling the truth.”

In September, the Australian National Audit Office revealed McKenzie directly pitched to Scott Morrison on 28 November 2018 to expand the program from $30m to $100m, and her office sent him an indicative list of projects that could be funded.

Morrison has denied considering whether proposed sports grant projects were located in marginal or target seats at that meeting.

In her submission, McKenzie acknowledged she “wrote to the prime minister seeking additional funding rounds as so many worthy projects and clubs would otherwise miss out”.

But the former minister argued that spreadsheets listing projects’ electorates were used to check there was a geographical spread of projects and that applications in marginal and target seats were not given “any precedence or special treatment”.