THE $1 million a year "community projects" fund set up as part of the $1.75 billion privatisation of the Port of Newcastle in 2014 was the sort of gesture often referred to as "a sweetener".
A cherry on the top of the sale cake.
It would have looked like pin money next to the overall price tag, but $1 million a year - every year for the 98 years of the port lease - is a fair bit of money, especially for community groups struggling to finance improvements in their localities.
Initially, the Newcastle Port Community Contribution Fund, as it's officially titled, appears to have operated with little sign of dissent.
The Port is a focal point for the Newcastle community from a social and economic perspective, so its great we are able to provide funding for projects that enhance the communitys enjoyment of it
Scot MacDonald announcing successful applications as parliamentary secretary for the Hunter in 2018
From the very start, government agencies, local councils and large corporate organisations such as the university were able to compete alongside kitchen-table community groups for funding.
Now, with analysis showing that community applicants have secured less than $800,000 of the almost $4.9 million spent, Labor MP Tim Crakanthorp is calling for a review of the scheme, and its funding parameters.
Perhaps the biggest concern is that although the money is provided by the privately owned port, the fund is overseen by the state government.
An "independent" panel makes recommendations to the government as to which applications are worthy of support, however the ultimate decision rests with the state.
The government will not reveal the identity of the panel members but says the group includes a "community representative".
Any conflicts of interest are declared and a probity adviser is engaged throughout each round of assessments.
Similar assurances were no doubt made by the federal government as the discomfiting spectacle of the "sports rorts" affair laid bare the way politics really works when the stakes are high.
A Newcastle Herald analysis of that scheme on Saturday showed how the Hunter - considered unwinnable by the Coalition - was ignored as the dollars rained down on marginal electorates.
No-one is suggesting that the port fund has been subjected to the sorts of behaviour uncovered by the National Audit Office with the federal scheme.
But a government using a "community" fund to pay for projects that would - or should - have been paid for out of its own coffers is. at the very least, a bad look.
And one that suggests the time is right for the port fund to be overhauled.
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