Bureaucrats rubber-stamp 98 per cent of Labor’s invite-only grants

October 29, 2026 — 5:00amDepartmental scrutiny of politically handpicked infrastructure grants has been exposed as little more than a rubber stamp, with new research finding almost 98 per cent of projects invited to apply for funding under Albanese government schemes ultimately received taxpayer money.The findings have raised fresh questions about the integrity of Labor’s controversial $560.9 million election grants program, which directed almost three-quarters of funding towards electorates notionally held by Labor before last year’s federal election.Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Deputy PM Richard Marles swung by the Willie the Boatman brewery in his electorate of Grayndler during the 2025 election campaign. Sitthixay DitthavongAn analysis by the Centre for Public Integrity found that 317 of 325 projects invited to apply under two previous invite-only grants programs were eventually awarded funding, despite government assurances that departmental assessments would ensure public money was spent appropriately.The research found no confirmed instances of bureaucrats rejecting projects on merit, although the reasons eight applicants missed out remain unclear.Infrastructure Minister Catherine King was forced to defend a contentious $6 million grant to Marrickville Golf Course in Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s Sydney electorate during question time on Wednesday, amid questions over the changing justification for the funding.King insisted the government had acted transparently, explaining that the grant was promised during the April 2025 election campaign partly to address sewage problems at the golf course.But the NSW government subsequently agreed to fund the urgent sewage works, leaving the Commonwealth’s $6 million commitment to pay for other upgrades, including clubhouse improvements, stormwater harvesting, a new toilet and landscaping.The explanation followed Albanese’s admission on Tuesday that he’d misled the House of Representatives and that sewage upgrades, which he had previously cited as the justification for the grant, were not ultimately what the federal funding would deliver.King said the projects would complement the work funded by NSW and maintained that all applications under the Major and Local Community Infrastructure Program were subject to departmental scrutiny.But the Centre for Public Integrity’s latest findings – to be submitted to a Senate inquiry into the program – cast doubt on whether those checks provide a meaningful safeguard against politically motivated spending. Constitutional expert Anne Twomey has described the process as “grey corruption”.The independent research institute examined two programs established after Labor’s 2022 election victory – the $1 billion Priority Community Infrastructure Program and the $349.9 million Investing in Our Communities Program.It found 80 of 82 projects invited to apply under the first scheme received funding, a success rate of 97.6 per cent. Under the second program, 237 of 243 applicants were successful, a rate of 97.5 per cent. By contrast, just 40 of 650 initial expressions of interest were ultimately successful under the government’s competitive $600 million Growing Regions Program, which allowed projects to be assessed against competing bids.The watchdog warned that checking projects after politicians had already selected them did nothing to establish whether other communities had more deserving claims on public money.“An assessment of viability and value for money after a project has been selected may establish that it is suitable for funding, but it cannot establish that it is a better use of public money than projects in communities that were never given the opportunity to apply,” the report – authored by Dr Catherine Williams, Professor Gabrielle Appleby and Zoe Neumayer – said.The findings present another headache for King, who has repeatedly defended Labor’s invitation-only infrastructure scheme on the grounds that applications must satisfy departmental requirements covering community benefits, project viability and value for money.King has insisted projects failing to satisfy those benchmarks “will not be awarded funding”.However, the watchdog found that, as of September 11, all 92 projects approved under the latest $560.9 million scheme had passed departmental scrutiny, while three applications had been withdrawn. Another 131 of the 226 invited projects had yet to be approved.The centre’s earlier research found that almost three-quarters of the money was earmarked for notionally Labor-held electorates, with a disproportionate share directed towards marginal seats where the party faced competitive contests.The organisation is demanding tougher rules governing how projects are selected, greater parliamentary scrutiny of grants decisions and a dedicated multiparty committee to oversee Commonwealth funding.Cut through the noise of federal politics with news, views and expert analysis. Subscribers can sign up to our weekly Inside Politics newsletter.From our partners