The Senate inquiry into sports rorts has decided to call the head of the public service, Phil Gaetjens, and the former sport minister Bridget McKenzie.
Guardian Australia understands the decision, taken on Friday, will mean the pair are asked to appear at a 16 March hearing to answer questions about McKenzie’s handling of the $100m community sport infrastructure grant program and Gaetjens’ report that contradicted the auditor general’s conclusion it was skewed towards marginal and target seats.
The development comes as Labor broadens its attack against government grant programs, arguing the urban congestion fund was also skewed in its distribution with announcement of taxpayer grants used to promote Coalition candidates.
The Senate select committee on administration of sports grants will hear from Sport Australia on Thursday and is looking to gather further evidence from clubs that missed out as a result of McKenzie’s decisions overruling Sport Australia.
On 13 February the inquiry heard from the Australian National Audit Office that 43% of projects funded under the program were ineligible when agreements were signed, undercutting Scott Morrison’s defence of McKenzie, who resigned from the ministry only because she had failed to declare a membership of one club that received funding.
Gaetjens has already made a submission to the committee, concluding that the decision-making process in McKenzie’s office lacked transparency and diverged significantly from Sport Australia’s recommendations but defending McKenzie by claiming he could not find evidence it was “unduly influenced by reference to marginal or targeted electorates”.
On Friday the joint committee of public accounts and audit will continue its scrutiny of the $200m regional jobs and investment packages program, after the revelation that Nolan Meats, a donor to the Liberal National party, received a $5.5m grant despite potentially being ineligible because it is a registered training organisation.
Both committees are likely to further explore late applications that were approved for funding in the sports and regional jobs programs.
On Sunday the Labor leader, Anthony Albanese, accused the Coalition of a “nuclear level of rorting” through its $3bn congestion busting fund, which Labor has referred to the auditor general.
Labor will pursue how funding announcements were made, noting that Liberal candidates such as Melissa McIntosh in the marginal seat of Lindsay were able to campaign on the back of funding allocated in the 2019 budget, such as $63.5m for Dunheved Road, despite not yet being members of the government.
In the legislative sphere, the most controversial legislation slated for debate this parliamentary fortnight is the government’s proposed extension of the cashless debit card.
In January the independent senator Jacqui Lambie complained about a lack of consultation and said residents of the Northern Territory and Western Australia were “scared and angry about the prospect of a big policy change that hasn’t been properly explained to them”.
The Centre Alliance senator Stirling Griff told Guardian Australia his party was “happy to extend the trials providing there is improvement in wraparound services, but not to transition those on income management in NT as more work is needed”.
The government continues to court Lambie’s vote to pass its union penalty legislation, a fact complicated by Lambie linking her support to a demand for the release of the Gaetjens report into sports grants.
The government is also hoping to pass legislation for an amnesty on unpaid superannuation, with One Nation believed to be the swing votes it requires.
Labor has offered its support only on the condition the superannuation guarantee is included in the national employment standards, allowing workers and unions to pursue unpaid super in the Fair Work Commission.
The government is pushing ahead with the planned amnesty but has offered the crossbench a promise to consult about putting superannuation in the employment standards after its passage.
Senator Rex Patrick told Guardian Australia that Centre Alliance supports the proposition that super should be included in the standards “to allow people to take action on unpaid super separately from the tax office” but the party is still to determine the “best method” to do so.
Guardian Australia understands the government will not introduce its religious discrimination bill nor release the exposure draft of its national integrity commission bill in the current sitting fortnight.