Voters in the Tasmanian marginal seat of Bass are the most spoilt in the country, with each voter promised the equivalent of almost $6,000 in spending commitments in the opening stages of the election campaign.
In the first week of the six-week campaign, almost $500m has been pledged by both major party leaders as they crisscross the country. The focus is on a handful of marginal seats that will decide the election.
At the same time, the deputy leader Barnaby Joyce has been on a regional cash splash tour, announcing more than $100m in new funding for projects targeting Lingiari in the Northern Territory, the seat of Hunter in New South Wales, and shoring up seats in north Queensland.
Guardian Australia’s breakdown of pork barrelling commitments made since the start of the year shows that people in the northern Tasmanian seat of Bass have been promised a total of at least $5,493 per voter from the major parties – the highest amount on a per capita basis. The data shows the Coalition has promised $416m in spending for the seat since the beginning of the year, including a large infrastructure package announced in the budget.
The figure includes the total of spending promises made by Labor and the Coalition that specifically target the electorate, such as a $15m aquatic centre promised by Labor. It also includes discretionary government spending, such as $336m to upgrade the east and west Tamar highways.
The government is desperately fighting to keep Bass, held by Liberal MP Bridget Archer on a 0.4% margin, with Morrison visiting the division three times this year, including twice in the past fortnight. Albanese has made five visits since January, starting his official campaign there on Monday, where he announced a $1.5m health commitment relating to child hearing.
Morrison visited Launceston on Thursday to make a $219m announcement for the forestry industry, including a $100m for an Australia-wide national institute for forest products innovation, with a central “hub” in Launceston, along with five others.
Voters in the marginal NSW seat of Gilmore are also high up the list for the most pork barrelling, with a total of $3,700 per voter.
The Coalition has promised almost $400m in projects to the seat, including the $353m allocated by the government for the Milton Ulladulla bypass in the budget, while Labor’s election commitments so far total about $80m.
In a sign of the tense competition in the seat, the Labor candidate for Gilmore, Fiona Phillips, almost immediately matched a $40m road upgrade commitment made by the prime minister, Scott Morrison, and Liberal candidate Andrew Constance on the opening day of the campaign.
Phillips has also pledged $6.5m to upgrade mobile phone black spots around the region, and $7.5m for a new library at Sanctuary Point.
The marginal Labor-held seat of Dobell has also been a key focus of the Coalition campaign, with voters in the NSW seat promised $387m from the government as it seeks to flip it – the equivalent of about $3,200 per voter.
In the opening week, Morrison has made about $260m in new commitments, while Labor leader Anthony Albanese has announced $190m.
Infrastructure cash splash in WA
Safe Coalition seats in Western Australia have also been strong beneficiaries of government spending, with Durack in particular receiving huge sums towards infrastructure projects announced in the 2022 budget. The electorate, one of the largest in Australia, will also benefit from the Coalition’s increased defence spending with the announcement of a $244m upgrade to the RAAF base near Derby.
Voters in the safe seat of Canning in WA have been at the receiving end of about $4,600 per voter as a result of large government road projects promised in the electorate, including upgrades to the Tonkin Highway. Canning is held by the Liberal MP Andrew Hastie on an 11.6% margin.
Also in WA, David Goode, the Liberal candidate for the seat of Burt, and Ben Morton, the member for Tangney, announced $40m in federal government funding to upgrade a road intersection in the Perth suburbs. This essentially matches a Labor party promise for $35m for the same project made on 4 April.
The Coalition is concerned it could lose several seats in the west given the popularity of the Labor state government, and the poor showing of the state Liberal party at the last election, which has depleted the party’s infrastructure on the ground. The seats in play include Pearce, Swan and Hasluck.
Voters in Pearce have been promised about $1,360 per person, compared to $880 in Hasluck and $291 in Swan.
In Queensland, the marginal seat of Leichhardt tops the list for the most spending commitments, with about $2,000 on offer per voter. This figure would be far higher if projects of state significance were included, with both leaders announcing significant funding commitments on the reef.
In the seat of Flynn, which Labor is chasing as one of the seven seats it needs to form majority government, voters have been promised projects that break down to about $1,000 each.
At the other end of the list are electorates such as Wentworth, which has not yet benefited from any election promises or new, discretionary government funds, despite being a marginal Coalition seat at threat from an independent candidate.
There are 33 seats that have missed out altogether, with no election promises or spending commitments made by either major party since January. Unsurprisingly, 24 are safe seats, or 73%. Just under half of these (45%) are in NSW, despite NSW having 31% of electorates nationally.
Guardian Australia is counting announcements that are either election promises, grants or government funding that we’ve termed “discretionary”. This usually means a government minister is the final decision-maker on the project.
We’re discounting any announcements that are reannouncing old money or projects previously announced. Promises that stand to benefit an area wider than a single electorate are also not being counted here.
You can read about how we’re tracking pork barreling and campaign announcements with our pork-o-meter project here
