Pork Barreling NOT Illegal

Send us Fan Mail A whiteboard with no record. A spreadsheet colour-coded by party. A briefing note that said to get the cash out the door "in the most politically advantageous way". For 33 years, auditors have found grant money leaning towards the seats that mattered, under governments of both sides. Billions of dollars. And not one person has ever been charged with pork barrelling, because federally there is no specific offence. This episode explains how pork barrelling works, walks through six programs from 1993 to today, and asks the three questions any grant program should be able to answer. Was there a merit process? Did the decisions follow it? Were the reasons written down? Nobody in this episode is accused of breaking the law. Every finding is the finding of the official body that made it. CHAPTERS 00:00 Not illegal 00:51 How the barrel works 03:55 Act 1: The whiteboard, 1993 06:21 Act 2: The clock, 2004 08:16 Act 3: Same rules, other side 09:30 Act 4: The spreadsheet, 2019 11:27 Act 5: A different watchdog, NSW 13:44 Act 6: Identified by government 17:02 Your checklist SOURCES House of Representatives Standing Committee on Environment, Recreation and the Arts, report on the Community, Cultural, Recreation and Sporting Facilities Program, February 1994 Australian National Audit Office, audit of the Community, Cultural, Recreation and Sporting Facilities Program, 1993 ANAO Report No. 14 2007-08, Performance Audit of the Regional Partnerships Programme ANAO Report No. 9 2014-15, on rounds three and four of the Regional Development Australia Fund ANAO Report No. 23 2019-20, Award of Funding under the Community Sport Infrastructure Program ANAO Report No. 47 2020-21, Administration of Commuter Car Park Projects within the Urban Congestion Fund NSW Auditor-General, Integrity of grant program administration, 8 February 2022 NSW State Archives and Records Authority, report under the State Records Act, 2021 NSW Independent Commission Against Corruption, Operation Jersey report on pork barrelling, August 2022 NSW Independent Commission Against Corruption, Operation Keppel report, 2023 Public Governance, Performance and Accountability Act 2013 (Cth), sections 8 and 71 Commonwealth Grants Rules and Principles 2024 Major and Local Community Infrastructure Program guidelines Centre for Public Integrity, analysis submitted to the Senate inquiry, September 2026 Commonwealth infrastructure department, submission to the Senate inquiry, 2026 Act 6 is as at October 2026. A Senate committee is due to report on the program on 18 November 2026. If you find an error, tell me and I will correct it and note the correction here. Audit This takes one story at a time and follows it to the end. Watch, listen and follow: auditthispod.com/links Audit This takes one story at a time and follows it to the end. Every episode is built from the public record: court transcripts, sentencing remarks, corruption commission findings, Hansard and auditor general reports. No speculation. No dramatisation. Watch on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@Audit_This Corrections and tip-offs: auditthismedia@gmail.com