What’s the scam with Labor’s $200m Community Batteries for Household Solar program? Is it as bad as Coalition pork barrelling rorts? No. Does the batteries program have merit? Unlike the Coalition Carparks rort, yes.
You can check out the FOI of the colour-coded spreadsheet here and the grants allocated by seat:
The scam is that, as Rex Patrick puts it, “If you rob a bank and only take half the loot, you still robbed the bank”.
“The problem doesn’t arise in a party making a policy and expenditure announcement at an election. The problem doesn’t arise in having ARENA determining 342 sites.
“The problem arises when a political party, in this case Labor, picks 58 sites without due diligence and announces the locations as part of its efforts to win seats. That fits firmly within the textbook definition of political corruption.”
The scam therefore is forking out public money without bullet-proof process is a slippery slope and although Labor is not in the Coalition’s pork league, it is on that slippery slope.
Defenders of the scheme have a point to make. This from Vince O’Grady of the VOG files:
“I down loaded the FOI and found the answers to Questions on notice at budget estimates which listed the 58 projects for the Community batteries.
“Then I allocated them to ALP and others. The ALP Electorates in the list were 34 to ALP and 24 to others. that represented the Election promises.
“I then downloaded the Financial year 2022-2023 from GrantConnect and looked at the grants which had been granted vs the list produced to estimates. (58 promised)
“That showed that 50 Grants had been granted under the scheme. One more to Braddon in Tasmania and one less to Franklin. So that makes it 33 to 25. Then there were 7 other grants promised to ALP electorates but not granted (as yet). That makes 26 to the ALP and 25 others. Then there is one grant not grated but promised to a Nationals electorate. Which makes 26 to 24 and ends up with 50 promised grants grants. As near to 50/50 as you could get. Hardly pork barrelling.”
Vince doesn’t agree with the marginals thesis.
In any case, notwithstanding issues of a co-oped bureaucracy, it ought to be public service not politicians choosing where to put public money. And this sort of thing should not have to be FOIed.
Labor’s Solar Rorts unveiled – replete with colour spreadsheet!
Michael West established Michael West Media in 2016 to focus on journalism of high public interest, particularly the rising power of corporations over democracy. West was formerly a journalist and editor with Fairfax newspapers, a columnist for News Corp and even, once, a stockbroker.