Letter to Anthony Albanese 20 Jan 2023    Terms and Documents     Discussion Paper    Annexure A    Annexure B  

Pork-barrelling

Pork-barrelling is governments spending the Public Purse to win votes to retain office and thereby corrupts electoral politics.

"Hoare defines pork barrelling as the ‘selective geographical allocation of publicly- controlled funds and resources for the purpose of gaining votes from electors in the locations so advantaged’. Leigh similarly defines pork barrelling as ‘the practice of targeting expenditure to particular districts based on political considerations’. This paper defines pork barrelling as the distribution of public resources to targeted electors for partisan purposes."

Pork-barrelling is -

a)     The allocation by elected governments of public funds and resources to target electors for partisan political purposes.  

b)      Using public money to target certain voters for political gain is wasteful and undermines trust in governments.

Annexure A(i) provides embedded threads to well over a dozen instances of articles and audit reports that denounce Pork-barrelling and wasteful, reckless management on major Infrastructure projects where no Conforming Cost-Benefit Analysis was produced/carried out beforehand

Refer:

Pork-barrelling - Adverse Consequences

Pork-barrelling - Blatant instances of targeting marginal seats

Articles and Audit Reports that Evidence and Denounce Pork-barrelling and Wasteful, Reckless Major Infrastructure Projects

Pork-barrelling - Ending it

Wasteful, Reckless Major Infrastructure Projects with Major Cost Blowouts

Below is an extract from The huge $28 billion cost of transport infrastructure cost blowouts  -  Grattan Institute - Marion Terrill - 24 Oct 2016

"Such recklessness is not tolerated in other sectors with similar levels of public investment. The $123 billion Future Fund has an independent board of guardians; its legislation requires investment decisions to be made at arm’s length from government; and it tables its annual report and financial statements in Parliament. Transport infrastructure investment by Australian governments is about the same size – $141 billion since 2000 – and should attract the same public scrutiny. It does not."

Pork-barrelling should be banned under ministerial code: ex-ICAC boss - The Australian - 17 March 2023

"The former chief of the NSW corruption watchdog has called for a ban on pork barrelling to be included in the federal Ministerial Code of Conduct, arguing that allocating public money for a party-political benefit can amount to criminal conduct."