National News
Labor’s ‘invite-only’ grants scheme found to have been overwhelmingly spent in safe and marginal seats
An “invite-only” grants program was overwhelmingly directed into safe Labor seats and marginal seats the party wanted to win at the 2025 federal election, a Centre for Public Integrity investigation of the $560 million program has concluded.
While projects in safe and marginal Labor seats sometimes received grants worth tens of millions of dollars, 45 electorates were not invited to the Major and Local Community Infrastructure (MLCI) Program and received no funding. Labor promised more than half a billion dollars in upgrades to sports facilities, parks and other community infrastructure at the election, and Infrastructure Minister Catherine King has said the MLCI was set up to pay for those promises.
The Centre for Public Integrity’s chair, former justice Anthony Whealy, said it appeared the program had been used to pork-barrel seats Labor wanted to win. He also remarked that If they cannot justify that process, then this is the misuse of public money at a serious level.