But Coalition senators on the committee have dismissed the findings of the final report as “a highly politicised and weaponised exercise”.
The Auditor-General found in January last yearthe federal government used the $100 million program as a slush fund for its re-election campaign,overlooking projects approved by an independent panel in favour of splashing cash in marginal seats.
A scathing report found Nationals deputy leader Bridget McKenzie,who oversaw the program as sports minister,ignored merit-based recommendations by Sport Australia for almost half the successful projects in favour of seats critical to the government’s re-election hopes.
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Senator McKenzie was later forced to resign after a report by the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet found she had breached the ministerial code of conduct by awarding a grant to a shooting club for which she hadfailed to declare her membership.
The final Senate report noted that despite numerous requests for several key documents,they have been withheld by the government.
They included a summary of the legal advice given to the board of Sport Australia relating to funding decisions under the program,a copy of the full unredacted list of grant applicants as they relate to Sport Australia’s assessment scores and comments and a copy of the terms of reference of the probe undertaken by department secretary Phillip Gaetjens.