Kate Lundy (ACT, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Local Government) Share this | Hansard source

My question is to Senator Brandis, the Minister for the Arts and Sport. Can the minister indicate when his department first became aware of the government’s commitment to fund both a new sports centre in Lithgow and floodlights at the Bathurst Rugby Union Club? Can the minister confirm that these requests went through a proper assessment process? If so, which department made that assessment, and against what guidelines were those assessments carried out? Given that the Audit Office recently found that the government had breached the Financial Management and Accountability Act in failing to properly approve the funding for grants made during the 2004 election, can the minister guarantee that these grants had been properly approved under that act? Can the minister also nominate the specific grants program under which the funding has been provided?