The Tasmanian Liberal Party has been accused of electoral bribery during the 2021 state election campaign, with documents obtained by the ABC revealing the party promised hundreds of thousands of dollars in taxpayer-funded community grants if it won the election.
The revelations come after Tasmania's Integrity Commission released a bombshell report on the practice, also known as pork-barrelling, in relation to the previous state election campaign.
That report raised questions over tens of millions of dollars of taxpayer money handed out by the state's Liberal Party in 2018, drawing comparisons to the Commonwealth's so-called "sports rorts" saga, but pointing out there were fewer rules governing the practice in Tasmania.
The report was developed after a two-year Integrity Commission investigation had to be ceased and did not identify any misconduct or corruption.
The report released by the commission earlier this month revealed the Liberals were promising taxpayer-funded grants in the 2018 campaign, but the grants were never assessed by the public service and there was no process to determine whether they were a good use of public money.
The ABC has now obtained a form given to candidates by the Liberal Party's campaign headquarters, marked "2021 — State Election — Local Communities Facilities Fund", followed by "internal use only for candidates — do not provide externally".
The Liberal Party promised to establish the taxpayer-funded scheme and pay the grants if it won the 2021 election.
The form asks candidates requesting grants to provide a single page of details about the project, including the amount of funding being sought.
At the bottom, marked "internal use only", the form asks whether the request is approved and how much will be given.
The ABC has also obtained a series of letters written by former premier Peter Gutwein to one Liberal candidate, Madeleine Ogilvie, formally confirming eight separate grant commitments.
The letters are dated either April 19 or April 28, during the campaign, and say the funding "is provided as part of the Liberals' Local Communities Facilities Fund".
Altogether, the grants announced by Ms Ogilvie were worth more than $800,000.
They included $150,000 for the North Hobart Bowls and Community Centre for a synthetic green, $150,000 for the Sandy Bay Rowing Club's floating pontoon, $150,000 for a new change room and clubroom for the Tasmanian Football Umpires Association and more than $7,000 for the Derwent Scottish Pipe band for new practice pipes.
Social media posts made by Ms Ogilvie or the successful recipients accompany nearly every promise, often featuring pictures of her standing alongside beneficiaries.
Ms Ogilvie's campaign advertising declared she was "supporting community football".
There is no suggestion Ms Ogilvie was the only candidate who applied for grants in this way, or that any of the recipient projects were not legitimate candidates for the funding being offered.
A government spokesman said funding of up to $150,000 was available for one-off projects under the grant scheme, but larger amounts were handed out in some cases after the initial $15 million allocation was not exhausted.
'They're using powers in ways they should not'
Griffith University's Charles Sampford, a director of The Accountability Round Table which aims to improve ethical and accountability standards in Australian parliaments, said the form being used by the Liberal Party to hand out grants did not meet the standards expected in Australia.
He said there should instead be a process with clear objectives that was open to all applicants, and grants should be handed out in line with clearly stated principles.
"They shouldn't be promising particular sweetheart deals for individuals or for particular constituencies.
"What we need to do is to ensure that the processes by which public funds are distributed are robust."
Professor Sampford said the practice had no place in a modern democracy.
"It's an apt metaphor to describe it as electoral bribery," Professor Sampford said.
"The point is, they're using powers in ways they should not in order to secure votes."
Government says commitments were 'clearly documented'
Greens leader Cassy O'Connor said the Liberals appeared to be vote-buying, rather than issuing the grants based on merit or process.
"It's pork-barrelling. It's electoral bribery. It's an unfair system because it means some sporting clubs and organisations who happen to have a Liberal candidate pay them attention and ask for money get money, while others miss out," she said.
"The Integrity Commission's really clear that this is not a transparent, level playing-field process, but the Liberals have made an art out of it.
Ms O'Connor said the Integrity Commission should investigate the 2021 election.
"Having gotten away with it in 2018 of course they did it again in 2021," she said.
"Surely the Liberal Party particularly, having seen the last Integrity Commission report … is on notice here that the integrity body may well have a look at how you splash money around to buy votes in an election."
The government spokesperson defended the election commitments, saying they were "clearly documented in the 2021-22 budget papers and approved by parliament".
"Community organisations were invited to put funding requests in writing, detailing their proposal as well as explaining the potential benefits to the community.
"Requests were then assessed by a policy team against a set of criteria, including how projects would improve economic activity, create jobs, support local businesses and help rebuild Tasmania post-COVID, as well as demonstrating they would improve community amenity.
"We make no apologies for working with our communities to deliver projects that assist in economic and social recovery."
They said election commitments should not be vetted by public servants.
