Analysis
Posted
Bridget McKenzie, remarkably, is still in her job.
The Minister won't resign. Nor is she willing to publicly defend
herself, leaving the Government bleeding over the sports rorts saga as
Parliament prepares to return.
There once was a time when
ministers causing this much obvious damage to their own side would see
the writing on the wall and walk.There once was a time when prime ministers would stem that damage, show some authority and give their marching orders to a minister who's done wrong.
These days, however, staring down critics and refusing to give an inch is seen as a virtue.
These days, prime ministers outsource decisions on whether their own ministerial code has been breached.
Morrison is stuck in a holding pattern
For more than a week now, the head of the Prime Minister's Department, the nation's top public servant, has been considering whether McKenzie has breached the code by awarding a grant to a shooting club of which she was a member.
Why it's taking so long to conclude this investigation is unclear.
Having called for the report though, Scott Morrison can hardly pre-empt its findings. He's stuck in a holding pattern, unable to act even if he wanted to.He's also, don't forget, still waiting to hear back from the Attorney-General Christian Porter as to whether McKenzie acted with legal authority in dishing out the sporting grants at all.
The auditor-general was explicit in warning she may now have had any legal right to do what she did.
As these inquiries continue and the saga drags on, the Government's defences are crumbling.
Trust us, we're politicians
One of its favoured talking points, that "all projects funded were eligible", was rendered ridiculous when the ABC's Andrew Probyn revealed the colour-coded list of how grants were really awarded.Eligibility had little to do with it. Many of the most deserving and extremely eligible clubs were overlooked in favour of less deserving clubs that just happened to be in marginal seats.
The other favoured talking point, that the program was all about "helping girls who currently have to get changed behind the sheds", was also undermined when The Guardian revealed 12 clubs that specifically applied for money to build girls' change rooms were, you guessed it, overlooked.
These arguments plainly aren't working.
So under sustained questioning at the National Press Club, the Prime Minister rolled out a new and somewhat novel line of defence: trust us, we're politicians.
"You know, politicians, ministers, members of parliament, we're part of our community," he argued."We know what's happening in our community. We're in touch with our community. We know the things that can make a difference in our community."
Voters can smell a rort
Let's just break that down.Is the Prime Minister really saying the Minister overruled Sport Australia's merit-based recommendations and pumped money into marginal seats because she's more "in touch" with community needs?
Is he really suggesting deserving clubs in safe seats missed out because McKenzie had a better understanding of these communities than the experts at Sport Australia who weighed the merit of each application?
Was her "community understanding" that these footy and netball clubs really didn't need the money at all?
In fairness, many politicians are indeed very good at understanding their communities.
The allocation of funds under this sports grants program, however, is not a shining example of community engagement on the part of McKenzie.
There are many issues swirling ahead of the resumption of parliament on Tuesday, from bushfire recovery efforts to climate change and the worrying spread of the coronavirus.
Then there's all the legislation hanging over from last year.
The sports rorts saga, however, has become the Government's most immediate political vulnerability and the Prime Minister is yet to find a plausible defence for what voters can smell was an indefensible pre-election rort.
David Speers is the host of Insiders, which airs on ABC TV at 9am on Sunday or on iView.
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