Some of Australia's largest telecommunications companies are frustrated the Coalition is dragging them into its re-election bid, with the government trumpeting 100 infrastructure investments which are partly funded by private companies.
Industry sources have told the ABC there are serious concerns about the management of the latest round of the Regional Connectivity Program (RCP), which the Commonwealth is funding to the tune of $140 million.
Regional Communications Minister Bridget McKenzie's office is being accused of using campaign letterhead to spruik upgrades to things such as mobile phone infrastructure as Coalition government achievements, when telcos are chipping in tens of millions of dollars in support and had been instrumental in backing and advocating for the projects.
Applications for round two of the RCP closed in December, yet the majority of the announcements of successful projects have been made after the election was called and campaigning began.
The Coalition insisted this was prior to caretaker provisions coming into effect, and said the announcements were about Commonwealth funding commitments, not private-sector costs.
The Commonwealth's share of funding was baked into Treasurer Josh Frydenberg's pre-election budget.
In addition to the administrative go-slow, sources have told the ABC the Coalition has been announcing successful projects without giving the telcos prior notice, with executives only finding out upgrades they are funding are in the public domain when greeted with press releases.
Senator McKenzie's office made announcements of projects across the country — 29 in Western Australia, 14 in New South Wales, 15 in Victoria, 21 in Queensland, 10 in the Northern Territory and 11 in South Australia.
Telstra is the biggest private financial backer, funding 63 of the projects at a cost of $30.6 million.
The company told the ABC it also helped convince state governments and other stakeholders to chip in $22.6 million.
"We were pleased to get the funding so we can continue to co-invest with the government to improve services in regional Australia," a spokesperson said.
"We were alerted by the government to the successful projects, however, you would need to ask the government why they chose the timing and approach."
Sources have told the ABC that Telstra's frustrations had been made clear to the office of Senator McKenzie, but the response was dismissive.
The Coalition's announcement of one project, upgrading mobile infrastructure along the Silver City Highway between Mildura and Broken Hill, caught Telstra by surprise.
When the ABC's local reporters contacted the telco for further details, the company had no idea the project was slated to be announced by Environment Minister and Member for Farrer, Sussan Ley.
Other companies involved in the upgrades include Optus and Vodafone, although neither company was prepared to go on the record.
The ABC has been told the frustrations are shared, although the process was not considered overly surprising.
The Coalition's Campaign Headquarters (CCHQ) was approached for comment, asked why there was a delay in announcing the projects and why telcos were not given advance warning of announcements.
CCHQ was also asked how it was appropriate to use campaign letterhead to spruik the deals, and why the Coalition seemed to be dragging the work of private companies into its election pitch to voters.
"The Coalition's announcements were of government grant contributions, not private sector contributions," a spokesperson for CCHQ said in a statement.
"Public announcements of private-sector contributions are a matter for the individual companies to disclose.
"The timing of announcements of successful government grants is a matter for the government."
