Karaoke grants 'pork-barrelling'
The former government has been accused of pork-barrelling over the last-minute approval of millions of dollars in grants for multicultural groups, some of which were used to buy a billiard table, jukebox and coffee makers.
Labor has defended the Building Multicultural Communities program, saying money was allocated transparently and it gave taxpayers better value than paying for coalition MPs to fly to weddings.
Former multicultural affairs minister Kate Lundy signed off on the grants on August 5, just hours before the government went into caretaker mode.
Among the more contentious grants the coalition identified through Senate estimates were $1400 for a jukebox for the Indonesian Welfare Association to host singing workshops. The Palestinian Community Association got $10,000, which included cash for a billiard table.
Both are Sydney groups.
The Chinese Xinjiang Senior Citizens Association in Melbourne got $6550 and bought a karaoke machine. In WA, the Coptic Orthodox Church at Victoria Park got $9500 for gym equipment. Many groups got money to buy coffee machines.
The eleventh-hour splurge put the program $1.3 million over budget and cost $15.6 million. More than 400 grants were approved, with groups able to get up to $170,000.
WA Liberal senator Dean Smith said it was "surely no coincidence" 70 per cent of the grants were in Labor-held seats. "In Labor's haste to approve the use of taxpayers' money for blatant pork-barrelling, it is clear there was not due diligence undertaken," he said.
Shadow minister for multiculturalism Michelle Rowland said the Government was politicising the grants program, which was designed to build more inclusive communities.
