The ‘Sports Rorts’ scandal has been going on for so long now that it almost seems like it will never end. We’ve lost a Senator over it, and it’s still not wrapping up. The latest update is a spicy one though: Scott Morrison’s insistence that the grants were all given in a totally legitimate way has just been blown out of the water.
To backtrack just quickly, the scandal revolves around funding for local sporting organisations.The Australian National Audit Office found that the Government gave $100 million worth of sports grants to sports clubs in “marginals” and “targeted” seats leading up to the 2019 election, and ignored the seats that they considered safe.
Basically if a hockey club in a safe electorate desperately needs more uniforms, they’re just going to have to cope with what they’ve got. Mosman Rowing Club though? Half a million dollars to them in an effort to save Tony Abbott’s spot in parliament.
Spoiler: that didn’t work.
Fast forward to now, and there’s a Senate Inquiry trying to work out what on earth happened. Our fearless leader – Scott Morrison, aka Scotty From Marketing – has been insisting to everyone that there were “no ineligible projects” funded by the Government. The Senate Inquiry has discovered that not only is that objectively wrong, but almost half of the sports grants given were dodgy.
Yep, 43% of the grants given under the funding scheme have been ruled ineligible.
Needless to say it’s gone over like a lead balloon with the Government, and has given us this beautiful ‘oh shit’ face from Liberal Senator, Eric Abetz.
Never ask a question you don’t know the answer to.
The ‘Sports Rorts’ Senate Inquiry still has a lot of digging to do, and we’ll likely get more info in the coming days as the truth gets dragged out of paperwork and politicians. One thing is for sure though, Scott Morrison is going to have a hard time spinning this one.
The only PR team working as hard as the Government’s is the PR team for the Royals. Check out the GOAT Team breaking it down…
Always be in the loop with our snackable podcast breaking the biggest story of the day. Subscribe to It’s Been A Big Day For… on your favourite podcast app.