NSW Labor has been accused of pork-barrelling in a key Sydney seat by offering a $20,000 community grant to a public school's Parents & Citizens Association in exchange for votes.
Retiring Greens MP Jamie Parker, who has comfortably held onto the former Labor seat of Balmain for more than a decade, says the tactic was lamentable.
"Labor has been caught out trying to buy votes for a tax-payer funded political slush fund," he told reporters on Wednesday.
"These grants fail the most basic of integrity measures: there's no public advertising, they're negotiated in secret ... they're absolutely disgraceful".
A campaign manager for Labor candidate Philippa Scott allegedly offered $20,000 to Leichhardt Public School P&C from a Local Community Grants program, with the endowment contingent on a Labor win.
It would have contributed to a solar energy project, the Sydney Morning Herald reported.
Labor's Daniel Mookhey rejects the claim, saying "there is no such thing as a Labor community grants program".
"They are not grants. They are election commitments and they will be honoured regardless of whether or not a community chooses to vote for us or not," he said.
The Greens are hoping candidate Kobi Shetty can maintain the minor party's grip on the seat on March 25.
Labor believes Balmain is a winnable seat and insists it will win majority government and not have to rely on the Greens for support.
But Greens MP Jenny Leong believes the political winds have shifted and voters are frustrated with both major political parties.
"It's all well and good for (Labor leader) Chris Minns to say he's not going to negotiate ... but we have seen the NSW crossbench grow and all of the polls suggest the crossbench will continue to grow," she said.
"The days of majority politics are over. The community wants to see us working collaboratively."
Mr Parker says the "blatant pork-barrelling" in his seat compelled him to call Labor out on it but insists "the Liberals need to go".
