The funding has yet to be received by nominated groups,with payment predicated on passing through the probity process.
Quinnell’s announcement copped immediate blowback,with responses to the Facebook post questioning whether her involvement with the group made the funding allocation “ethical”.
“Offering that amount of money to one group sounds wrong to me … especially knowing your personal connection to this group. Is this ethical?” Phyllis Foster asked.
“My concern is not about a political party or affiliation to a particular group;it is about being fair to the community,not just the chosen few. Perhaps you need to explain yourself more fully,thank you.”
Murray Bishop,the director of music at the Camden Community Band since 2003,said news Quinnell had awarded funding to a group of which she had been a member “did not go down well”.
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“There was a lack of transparency and a lack of a level playing field in terms of who was able to get the funding,” Bishop said,noting $75,000 would have gone a “long way” in helping his group find a band hall.
Camden Musical Society acting president Kerrie Jiear said the group had been nominated to apply for grants worth up to $75,000,saying the costs of putting on productions meant the total funding amount would only cover one and a half shows. The society is yet to make its submission.
She defended Quinnell,saying different politicians have different priorities,pointing to the funding given to the local football club by Sidgreaves,the former Liberal MP.
Quinnell’s social media posts repeatedly reference the group’s upcoming show,and even plugged the recent production ofChitty Chitty Bang Bang in parliament in late May,describing the act as “amazing”.
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The $75,000 represented almost a quarter of the $323,000 allocated by Quinnell across five projects in her electorate.
A spokeswoman for Premier Chris Minns said Quinnell had raised her conflict of interest ahead of the election,and the fund had been designed to prevent pork-barrelling and to ensure funding was evenly distributed across the electorates.
“Ms Quinnell made a declaration prior to the election,” she said.
“The NSW government has taken the extraordinary step to put every single project through a rigorous probity process,including by an expert independent assessment panel.”
On Monday,Minns rejected the characterisation of the fund as “pork-barrelling”,saying it was the prerogative of political parties to make election commitments.
The $37.2 million LSCA fund faced fierce criticism from Centre for Public Integrity director Geoffrey Watson,who accused Labor of using taxpayer funds to buy votes.
“I’m just going to say:this is pork-barrelling,pure and simple. This is buying votes with public money. It’s our money,not the politicians’ money,” he said last week.
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