Jess Walsh (Victoria, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise tonight to speak about trust and to speak about integrity. When the public go to an election, they put their trust in the elected politicians to lead the country effectively. They put their trust in government to spend their money—taxpayer money; money they have worked hard for—honestly and effectively. They put their trust in government to spend their money in ways that make their lives better: good schools; a doctor when they need one and where they need one; major infrastructure that gets them home from work on time; and upgrades to important community facilities. What they don't expect is governments spending taxpayer money on their own re-election. What they don't expect is governments making funding decisions based on colour-coded spreadsheets that are about seats they need to win, not what communities need. What they don't expect is governments looking past communities in need in favour of their own government mates. But that is exactly what we have just seen from this government.

For a government that seem so obsessed with everyone's else integrity, they appear to have very little of it themselves.

Sporting clubs are at the heart of our communities, but the government's $100 million sports rorts scandal has treated those clubs with absolute contempt. These clubs are run by volunteers, and many of the clubs that needed funding the most have missed out. In regional Victoria, the Castlemaine Bowling Club put together an application for a small grant for outdoor lighting. This club, whose members range from young people aged around 11 to older people aged 93, just wanted to improve the outdoor lighting at their club. They wanted people to be able to access the bowling green later into the evening. They worked hard on their application. They kept it modest. They missed out, and they missed out with no explanation. Understandably, like so many other clubs, they want answers.

The Kyneton District Soccer Club were also asking for a grant. They wanted new turf for their soccer club, and their application scored 87 out of 100. The club has hundreds of players from juniors to seniors, women and men, and many more members and supporters. They wanted to upgrade the field so that they could use it throughout the winter. Right now, often they can't play home games because the surface is just not up to it after all the rain of the winter season. That project scored high for a reason, but they missed out.

The Castlemaine Bowling Club and the Kyneton District Soccer Club deserve to know why they missed out. Was the funding sent to a seat that the government thought it had more chance of winning? Were these clubs snubbed for other clubs that had connections to the government's mates? These clubs deserve answers, and they deserve to be funded. They made their applications, and they deserve to receive the funding that they need. The federal member for Bendigo, Lisa Chesters, has already called for the government to fund these projects and all the worthy projects that missed out, and I add my name to that call. The public deserve better than this. The people of Kyneton and Castlemaine deserve better than this. Australians deserve a government that they can trust. Australians deserve a government with integrity. Australians deserve a government that will look out for them, not out for themselves.