DOCUMENTS

Senator SHELDON (New South Wales—Chief Government Whip in the Senate) (10:44): Isn't this amazing? The culprits are once again trying to play the prosecutor. Instead of telling Australians how they would help them with housing, the cost of living or better wages, Senator McKenzie is more focused on talking about our election commitments that are delivering for local communities now.

Our commitments follow the Commonwealth Grants Rules and Principles. Our commitments follow the recommendation of the Joint Committee of Public Accounts and Audit, made up of MPs and senators from across the political spectrum, including members of Senator McKenzie's own side of politics. And, most importantly, our commitments were made to deliver for local communities, not sorted on a colour coded spreadsheet for personal and political gain.

Senator McKenzie might be familiar with that process, because that was exactly what was happening in her office in the lead-up to the 2019 election. Nine out of the 10 electorates that received the most funding were marginal, targeted electorates based on a colour coded spreadsheet. Seventy-three per cent of the projects Senator McKenzie approved went against the recommendations of the Australian Sports Commission, then known as Sports Australia.

It gets worse. The Senate inquiry into these rorts found more than 40 per cent of the projects that received funding were considered ineligible by the Audit Office. While all this was going on, Senator McKenzie even failed to disclose her own active membership of a gun club that received almost $36,000 from the very program she oversaw.

This isn't the only time that Senator McKenzie failed to disclose information. Who could forget when, in 2024, she 'forgot' to disclose the 16 flight upgrades she received over nine years while pointing fingers at everybody else? But Senator McKenzie isn't the only one on her side of politics with a habit of failing to disclose information.

It's a recurring theme among the Liberals and the Nationals. In the lead-up to the 2025 election, several Liberal and National MPs were busy making election promises to organisations with which they had personal connections, connections they failed to declare. The member for Hume, the opposition leader, Angus Taylor, promised $200,000 to upgrade amenities at the 1st Appin Scout Group, where he held an honorary membership.

This wasn't declared on his register of interests. The member for Bowman, Henry Pike, promised $1.1 million to the EGW Wood Sportfield, home of the Redlands Tigers, a club that listed him as a patron. This wasn't declared on his register of interests.

The member for Herbert, Phillip Thompson, promised $232,000 to the Jubilee Bowls Club, where he also was listed as a patron. This wasn't declared on his register of interests. And the member for Moncrieff, Angie Bell, promised funding to the Surfers Paradise Rugby Union Club, which listed her as a patron on its website.

Once again, this wasn't declared on her register of interests at the time. Maybe she was too busy throwing stones. Perhaps Senator McKenzie should spend a little less time pointing fingers across the chamber and a little more time asking questions of her own colleagues.

Let's be clear: her side have no problem with election commitments when they're making them. Let's go back to my home state of New South Wales. This included in 2025, the member for Cook, Simon Kennedy, when $2.7 million was promised for the election.

This included $1.44 million to the Gymea Bay Baths; $674,000 for the North Field at Gwawley Park; $590,000 for pickleball courts in the Sutherland shire; and, for my duty seat of Lindsay, Liberal member Melissa McIntosh made election promises totalling at least $18 million. In fact, the Liberals and Nationals made $1.6 billion worth of election promises. They had no problem making $1.6 billion worth of election promises whilst asking Australians for their votes.

Their only problem is with commitments that follow the proper rules and processes and that are actually delivering for local communities. So, before Senator McKenzie appoints herself prosecutor again, she might want to check with her own colleagues first. She'll find plenty of evidence there.