news, federal-politics, sports rorts, belconnen tennis club, martin klein, eric abetz
A Canberra tennis club has detailed its disappointment after missing out on community sports funding during the sports rorts saga in early 2020. Belconnen Tennis Club was one of a number of local sports clubs rated as highly suitable by Sports Australia to receive funding from the community grants program but were left out after former minister Bridget McKenzie’s office adjusted allocations. Martin Klein, the club’s president, appeared before a Senate committee on Friday afternoon to answer questions from government and opposition senators about the impact the funding snub had had on the local sports club. The club had requested $50,000 from the funds in order to upgrade to modern lighting across eight courts at the facility. A further $30,000 was applied for under the Tennis Australia National Court Rebate (NCR) with the club covering the remainder of the $132,000 lighting upgrade with its existing funds. But despite scoring an 82 rating out of 100, considered high, from the sports agency, the Belconnen club didn’t receive funding from the federal program while other lower-rated applications elsewhere did. Labor senators suggested the former minister adjusted allocations to redirect grants from safe Labor seats in Canberra to targeted or marginal electorates who were rated lower by the agency. Mr Klein was asked by senators whether the outcome made him cynical about government processes being affected by politicking. “If your application for the funding was based on a criteria, and you’ve been rated highly to meet that criteria, it would be disappointing that another factor would override all that suitability for funding,” Mr Klein said. “Yes, there’s a degree of cynicism about the process. “I think that perhaps the governments of the day lose some credibility or some standing within the community if they make decisions that aren’t transparent.” Senator Eric Abetz pressed Mr Klein on whether he thought the amount of funding, which was approximately proportionate to the ACT’s population, should have been greater for the territory over other states with larger populations. Mr Klein said geographic distribution and population size wasn’t outlined in the grant’s criteria. “If the purpose of the funding was to fund community organisations to develop the facilities for their community, you have criteria based on that,” Mr Klein said in response. “From our club, we were seeking funding for lights.” READ MORE: In the club’s submission to the committee, Mr Klein wrote the club was concerned after it had been told it had scored highly in its application but had still missed out on the funding. “We were somewhat perturbed that processes other than the Sports Australia assessment, may have been used to determine who was funded,” Mr Klein’s submission read. “On the basis of the Sports Australia assessment our club had meritorious claim for funding assistance in a major infrastructure project and it is a concern for our club and wider community that we have been denied this funding.” The tennis club added it had needed to delay the lighting upgrades and considered increasing fees to cover the future costs of “court refurbishments, fencing replacement and club house upgrades and maintenance”. The ongoing saga first came to light after an Auditor-General’s report, delivered in January 2020, found the then-sports minister overlooked grants applications found worthy by government agency Sport Australia. The senator’s office instead ran its own assessment process favouring marginal electorates. The report found at least 43 per cent of the grants were ineligible by the time they were funded. The Morrison government was heavily criticised by opposition and crossbenchers for approving the sports grants in marginal seats ahead of the 2019 federal election and called for Senator McKenzie’s resignation. Senator McKenzie resigned as the sports minister the following month after it surfaced she had failed to disclose a membership she had with a gun club that received nearly $36,000 from the fund. The committee is expected to deliver its findings next month. For faster access to the latest Canberra news, download The Canberra Times app for iOS and Android.
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A Canberra tennis club has detailed its disappointment after missing out on community sports funding during the sports rorts saga in early 2020.
Martin Klein, the club’s president, appeared before a Senate committee on Friday afternoon to answer questions from government and opposition senators about the impact the funding snub had had on the local sports club.
The club had requested $50,000 from the funds in order to upgrade to modern lighting across eight courts at the facility.
A further $30,000 was applied for under the Tennis Australia National Court Rebate (NCR) with the club covering the remainder of the $132,000 lighting upgrade with its existing funds.
But despite scoring an 82 rating out of 100, considered high, from the sports agency, the Belconnen club didn’t receive funding from the federal program while other lower-rated applications elsewhere did.
Labor senators suggested the former minister adjusted allocations to redirect grants from safe Labor seats in Canberra to targeted or marginal electorates who were rated lower by the agency.
Mr Klein was asked by senators whether the outcome made him cynical about government processes being affected by politicking.
“If your application for the funding was based on a criteria, and you’ve been rated highly to meet that criteria, it would be disappointing that another factor would override all that suitability for funding,” Mr Klein said.
“Yes, there’s a degree of cynicism about the process.
“I think that perhaps the governments of the day lose some credibility or some standing within the community if they make decisions that aren’t transparent.”
Senator Eric Abetz pressed Mr Klein on whether he thought the amount of funding, which was approximately proportionate to the ACT’s population, should have been greater for the territory over other states with larger populations.
Mr Klein said geographic distribution and population size wasn’t outlined in the grant’s criteria.
“If the purpose of the funding was to fund community organisations to develop the facilities for their community, you have criteria based on that,” Mr Klein said in response.
“From our club, we were seeking funding for lights.”
In the club’s submission to the committee, Mr Klein wrote the club was concerned after it had been told it had scored highly in its application but had still missed out on the funding.
“We were somewhat perturbed that processes other than the Sports Australia assessment, may have been used to determine who was funded,” Mr Klein’s submission read.
“On the basis of the Sports Australia assessment our club had meritorious claim for funding assistance in a major infrastructure project and it is a concern for our club and wider community that we have been denied this funding.”
The tennis club added it had needed to delay the lighting upgrades and considered increasing fees to cover the future costs of “court refurbishments, fencing replacement and club house upgrades and maintenance”.
The ongoing saga first came to light after an Auditor-General’s report, delivered in January 2020, found the then-sports minister overlooked grants applications found worthy by government agency Sport Australia. The senator’s office instead ran its own assessment process favouring marginal electorates.
The Morrison government was heavily criticised by opposition and crossbenchers for approving the sports grants in marginal seats ahead of the 2019 federal election and called for Senator McKenzie’s resignation.
The committee is expected to deliver its findings next month.
