Labor falls short in election promise of pools, lights and sporting fields across the country

The Federal Government has only paid out money for less than a third of its election promises for facilities such as sporting club upgrades, new lighting and swimming pools across the country. More than halfway through the election term, it has allocated money to just 11 of its 87 big-ticket projects worth more than $5 million apiece, and 115 of its 359 smaller promises around the country, an analysis of grants data by The West Australian reveals. Projects in WA have fared better than those in other States so far, with 28 out of 70 promised projects having contracts signed. But a lack of information from proponents appears to be hampering its efforts across the State and nationwide. Infrastructure Department documents show that at the end of August, it was still waiting for project information in another 22 cases from proponents in WA. Across the country, the department needed further information from 174 projects — more than the total number it has funded. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Infrastructure Minister Catherine King fought the 2022 election in part on a pledge to offer more transparency and greater scrutiny of money splashed around in grant programs. They set up two new schemes to fund election promises Labor made during the campaign — known as Investing in Our Communities for projects costing under $5 million and the Priority Community Infrastructure Program for those with a higher price tag. On top of this, they pledged the two buckets of money would not be extended to continue funding the Government’s pet projects, as happened repeatedly with grants programs under the previous Coalition government. The Infrastructure Department has published a full list of organisations that were promised funding during the election and which have been invited to apply for the grants. A departmental briefing to Ms King from November 2022, recently published under freedom of information laws, shows all projects went through an initial “desktop review” that looked at whether they were eligible on basic requirements and whether the organisations involved had suitable financial arrangements in place. “The majority of projects scored greater than 112” out of a possible 140 points, it said. The briefing said that all projects to be funded under the pair of grants schemes would “undergo a formal value-for-money assessment” as well. The two largest projects to be funded in WA are $5.4 million to build a men’s shed and upgrade sports facilities at Forrestfield’s Hartfield Park, and $5 million for the City of Albany’s plan to construct an artificial reef at Middleton Beach. The departmental documents also reveal it is still negotiating the funding agreements for a $25 million contribution towards to $65 million Alkimos aquatic recreation centre in Wanneroo and $5 million for the Langford indoor netball centre project promoted by the Southern Districts Netball Association and the City of Gosnells. In August, it was still waiting for information on the High Wycombe pool and community hub, which was promised $30 million each from the WA and Federal governments in April 2022. The department also still needed information about the planned flagship Aboriginal Cultural Centre so it could start its full assessment of its merits. That is another jointly-funded venture being driven by the State Government, with a steering committee appointed in July to expand the planning work.