The Morrison government justifies bypassing Newcastle in a billion-dollar grants program because the scheme funds the "long-standing practice" of parties making election commitments.
The Newcastle Heraldreported this week that the safe Labor seats of Newcastle and Shortland had received no funding under the six-year-old Community Development Grants program while two neighbouring Coalition seats had received more than $20 million each.
The Labor-held seat of Paterson has received three grants totalling $193,000, and Joel Fitzgibbon's Hunter electorate has received $15,000 for a footpath.
Deputy Prime Minister Michael McCormack, whose infrastructure department oversees the program, did not respond directly to questions from the Newcastle Herald, but a spokesperson said the grants were "primarily used to fund election commitments".
Asked why the taxpayer funds had not been distributed more equitably, the spokesperson said candidates from all major parties "routinely announce funding commitments as part of an election campaign".
"During the last election, the Coalition made a set of election commitments, as did the Labor Party," the spokesperson said.
"We were elected to deliver our commitments and unlike the Labor Party, which in six years of Government broke its promises and delivered nothing, we are delivering."
The spokesperson said the Hunter had shared in infrastructure spending under the Coalition, including $140 million from the Roads of Strategic Importance program for the Tenterfield to Newcastle corridor, three quarters of which runs through former Nationals leader Barnaby Joyce's New England electorate.
The Hunter had also received $30 million under the Heavy Vehicle Safety and Productivity Program and Bridges Renewal Program; $6.6 million from the Building Better Regions Fund; more than $21.6 million in Roads to Recovery funding; and $9 million for border services at Newcastle Airport.
The spokesperson said the Hunter was also benefiting from the government's $100 billion "infrastructure pipeline" but did not specify individual projects.
The CDG is not a competitive grants program. Its website says the government "selects projects to be invited to submit" an interest.
Hunter Business Chamber boss Bob Hawes called for more transparency in how grants funding was allocated.
"It is disappointing when worthwhile projects that are of significant local or regional benefit are overlooked, especially when they are well supported and appear to meet the grant or funding criteria," he said.
"Both the state and federal government through Infrastructure NSW and Infrastructure Australia have well-defined pathways and processes to identify and prioritise projects and initiatives, and it is reasonable to expect these should be relied upon and used."
Mr Hawes said "departures from process" left governments open to accusations of "pork-barreling and political interference".
"The Hunter region collectively has done a great job in improving the way it researches, compiles and presents projects.
"The former Hunter Infrastructure and Investment Fund was a great vehicle for demonstrating that councils, government agencies and other eligible applicants had more than a mud map when putting a case for funding.
"As a consequence, we have become better at advocating and presenting projects for consideration."
WHAT WE ASKED THE DEPUTY PM
1. Why have safe Labor seats in Newcastle and the wider Hunter region been so obviously left out of the taxpayer-funded CDG since it began in 2014?
2. The government identifies projects worthy of CDG funding. Are these decisions based on political considerations instead of community need?
3. Why do Coalition candidates, and not sitting MPs, announce successful projects in seats such as Dobell?
4. Can the Deputy Prime Minister give any assurances that CDG funding will be allocated more equitably in the future?
5. What message does the Deputy PM have for taxpayers in the Hunter region who have been all but overlooked by the CDG scheme for six years?
THE DEPUTY PM'S RESPONSE VIA A SPOKESPERSON
"As is explicitly stated in the program's own guidelines, as well as in recent Senate Estimates hearings, the Community Development Programme (CDG) is primarily used to fund election commitments.
"During the last election, the Coalition made a set of election commitments, as did the Labor Party. We were elected to deliver our commitments and unlike the Labor Party, which in six years of Government broke its promises and delivered nothing, we are delivering.
"CDG is just one of many programs the Government invests in to deliver infrastructure for communities across Australia.
"The Hunter Region has received and been committed millions of infrastructure dollars under our Coalition Government with;
- "Roads of Strategic Importance - Tenterfield to Newcastle corridor - $140 million
- "More than $30 million under the Heavy Vehicle Safety and Productivity Program and Bridges Renewal Program.
- "$6.6 million from previous Building Better Regions Fund rounds, as well as the recently announced Branxton to Greta Cycle way project under round 4, at $1.95 million.
- "More than $21.6 million through the current allocation of Roads to Recovery funding, which we increased from $2 billion to $2.5 billion nationally.
- "$9 million to provide border services at Newcastle Airport, supporting long-awaited international flights
"We are continuing to roll out successful programs as part of our $100 billion infrastructure pipeline to benefit the regions, including in the Hunter region.
"Candidates from all major parties routinely announce funding commitments as part of an election campaign and this is long-standing practice."
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