Vanessa Goodwin: Labor Must Explain Lack of Documentation for Grants

Labor needs to explain why grants of public money were provided by their government without funding deeds or requirements for the recipient to account for how the grant was spent.

The Department of Justice’s ongoing enquiry into allegations of a misuse of a $190,000 grant has confirmed that no funding deed was drawn up for this grant or others from the Solicitors’ Guarantee Fund.

It is astonishing that the previous Labor-Green Government was prepared to give out grants of hundreds of thousands of dollars without any funding deeds or formal checks to ensure the money was spent on the purpose it was provided for.

Handing out grant funds without a formal funding deed is extremely unusual and raises a number of questions about why normal procedures weren’t applied. Labor needs to explain whether this was standard practice under their government.

Under normal circumstances processes are put in place when handing out grants to ensure there is no question that the grant will be spent for the intended purpose. It’s not a good look for a Labor Government to have neglected normal processes when giving public money to unions.

It would be extremely concerning if there were other instances where grants were provided by the previous government with no funding deed and no oversight of whether grants were spent appropriately.

Bryan Green and Lara Giddings must explain whether this occurred on other occasions under their government, so we can ensure grant funds have been properly accounted for.

I will work with the department to consider how the accountability mechanisms, eligibility criteria, application and assessment processes for grants from the fund can be strengthened and properly documented in order to ensure that grants are spent appropriately.
Vanessa Goodwin, Attorney-General