Former NSW government accused of ‘pork barrelling at public’s expense’ after scathing audit

Post-Covid pandemic funding program was designed in office of then treasurer Dominic Perrottet without consulting affected communities, auditor says. Photograph: Dean Lewins/AAP

Labor has accused the former New South Wales Coalition government of “pork barrelling at the public’s expense” after the auditor general found the design of a $5bn scheme to funnel money into areas worst hit by Covid lockdowns “lacked integrity”.

In a report released on Wednesday, Margaret Crawford found that more than $1bn was allocated to “low or moderate merit” infrastructure projects in western Sydney as part of the massive post-pandemic spending program WestInvest.