Former state Treasurer says government's cash splash was justified
The former state Treasurer has denied claims of pork-barrelling over the 5 billion-dollar "west invest" program. Matt Kean says his government's cash splash was entirely justified.
Transcript
00:00 Having sold off WestConnex, the former government was flush with cash.
00:07 Treasurer Matt Keane had a $5 billion kitty from which to grant local wishes.
00:13 To a state of the art indoor sports arena, to a new arts centre, a riverside sanctuary, new swimming pools, new open space, BMX tracks being built, parks being expanded.
00:25 But the Auditor-Generals looked into the WestInvest program, finding it lacked integrity, that spending wasn't informed by robust research, and decisions were made without advice or analysis from agencies that administered the program.
00:39 This is a classic in the genre of pork barrelling at the public's expense.
00:44 The report found Matt Keane's office requested particular projects be recommended, like a $17 million upgrade to an ice rink in Canterbury. The request came the same day that Labor promised its own.
00:57 It's an important ice rink, it's one of the only ones in Sydney, and it was closed down.
01:02 While the Auditor-General found the grants for community projects were effectively managed, the funding advice for government projects wasn't always followed. One third of the projects funded were assessed by a steering committee as having low or moderate merit.
01:18 How do you justify that?
01:19 Well I don't think that the funding of air conditioning classrooms in Western Sydney has low merit. I don't think building new schools in Western Sydney has low merit.
01:29 The Auditor-General also found WestInvest may have put the state's AAA credit rating at risk, because money from the sale of public assets was spent instead of being used to pay down debt.
01:41 After taking office, the Minns government changed many of the funding decisions, diverting money to some projects that didn't yet have a business case.
01:49 Well hypocrisy has a name and it's Daniel Mookie.
01:52 The name calling likely to continue long after the last dollar is spent.
01:57 spent.
01:57 [BLANK_AUDIO]