Questions over $500bn Government grants program

0:00ABC Listen, podcasts, radio, news, music and more. Good morning, welcome to AM. It's Tuesday, the 8th of September. I'm Rachel Mealy coming to you from the lands of the trouble and younger people in Brisbane. The Centre for Public Integrity says a half billion dollar fund used by Labor at the last election was, quote, a misuse of public money or serious pork barreling. The Centre found while some marginal seats were awarded tens of millions of dollars in grants, others received nothing. And since projects were only allowed to apply by invitation, the opposition and independent MPs are asking how grants were chosen. Senior political correspondent Jake Evans has this exclusive story. Marickville Golf Club is getting a taxpayer-funded facelift. It's a six million dollar renovation in Prime Minister Anthony Albanese's seat of Grainler. And I've been coming here for decades and using this club.

1:02The redevelopment of the Royal Marickville is one of more than 200 projects funded through an invitation-only grant scheme worth more than half a billion dollars. Now, as Centre for Public Integrity Investigation has concluded, the grant scheme was directed overwhelmingly to safe labour seats and marginal seats the party was targeting at the election. Its chief executive Catherine Williams said the funding was clearly imbalanced. The grants were heavily concentrated in notionally IOP held seats. The every dollar spent in a coalition seat, $3.20, was spent in a notionally IOP held seat. The Centre's chair former justice Anthony Wheely says there are serious questions that must be answered. The primer phase, it looks like the misuse of public money or serious court barreling is at some times court. I think there's a heavy-owned son of the government now that justified the process it has used.

2:02In a statement, Infrastructure Minister Catherine King said the grant scheme delivered on the government's election promises and followed grant rules. More than $1 billion has been made available through other competitive grants programs. The seat of Indy on the Victorian border was one of 45 electorates that missed out on an invitation to the major and local community infrastructure program. This part of the war has just been covered up with the white ant damage, that's why the current is there. The rather Glen Golf Club in that seat is in need of a refresh. After being knocked back from competitive grant schemes several times, the club asked local MP Helen Haynes how to secure an invite to the MLCI program. Ian Grimes says the club was told that wasn't an option. We would like to at least have the chance to present our case to this, to preserve this important community asset that we have here. I feel very, very angry actually that we have a government who are using a grant's program such as this for what they call election commitments but what in plain language

3:07we know is pork barreling. These Haynes has previously attempted to introduce reforms that would require grant schemes to have clear selection criteria, reporting rules and a parliamentary committee to act as watchdog. It hasn't been taken up. It just feels unfair and frustrating when we're not asking for special treatment, effectively asking for equal treatment. Rather Glen Golf Club member Ian Grimes, ending that report by Jake Evans, the assistant treasurer Daniel Milino says the government followed established practice with the grants delivered under the scheme. This is a mechanism that is really there to deliver commitments that were very transparent in the election and it's important that government have mechanisms to deliver those in a timely way. As I said, this is a longstanding way by which governments can deliver commitments after an election. It's a really critical way in which there are protections in place but governments can be upfront with the Australian people and if they've made commitments, they'll deliver

4:08them. Assistant treasurer Daniel Milino and they'll be more on this story on 730 tonight on ABC TV. Superannuation policy is shaping up to be a hot topic in Canberra this week. The coalition and one nation are both looking at ways people could use their super early to help afford a home. A one nation proposal allowing Australians who rent or pay a mortgage to divert a portion of their super payments as salary for up to three years has been described as economically disastrous. Evelyn Manfield reports from Parliament House. With cost of living pressures being felt in many households, politicians are debating whether or not accessing super early could be part of the fix. The Liberals housing spokesman Andrew Bragg says the coalition is currently reviewing ideas like being able to use your super to offset your mortgage and using it as collateral to get a bigger loan. Mogi's offsets, collateral arrangements, cash out measures, there are pluses and minors

5:09on all of these models but I think it's a good debate to have because we want to be giving Australians the best chance that we can to live in a house that they own. A coalition spokesperson denied those options were under consideration but Senator Bragg says they are being reviewed as part of the opposition's policy development. Well, these policies are under reviewed by the party, yes, of course. Our nation yesterday unveiled its bold super valuation plan to allow renters or mortgage holders to take home 3% of their future super contributions instead of it all going into their super account. An idea Barnaby Joyce argues helps people in need in a here and now. Pauline has been saying that it seems only appropriate that if people are in a time deprivation where they're under the pump that they should have access to their own money. With the Association of Superannuation Funds reckons it'd be economically disastrous. Economic's lecturer at the University of Sydney Dr Luke Hardigan says it'd be inflationary too.

6:09During the COVID pandemic, a government scheme allowed millions of Australians to access up to $20,000 of their super. The research showed a large portion of people put that money towards gambling, groceries and clothing. Barnaby Joyce says this wouldn't happen under one nation's policy. This is for house payments or rent. It is not for going to the pub. But May is easy from campaign group everybody's home says that's putting a structural problem onto individuals. There are things that government could be doing. Like limiting rent increases, that's something that will have an impact straight away. It's not something we have to wait years to see the impact of. Like raising income support payments for people and centrally doing it tough. The government says it is helping people by cutting income taxes and warns one nation's policy will leave workers poorer. Evelyn Manfield reporting.

7:12The trial of three Mexican men accused of murdering Perth Brothers, Jake and Callum Robinson and their American travel companion has begun in Mexico. Carrington Clark has been following this case from the beginning and joined me earlier from Ensenada. Carrington, the family has come face to face with the accused. What have we seen in court so far? This was quite a dramatic moment. So Martin and Deborah Robinson have traveled here from Perth. They said it was important for them to be here. So those alleged murderers could see the human consequences of what the deaths of Callum, Jake Robinson and their friend Carter Road, the toll that that's taken on the people who loved them. So they were seated just across a narrow alley in the courtroom. Maybe less than two meters away from these three men who were accused of these brutal murders who sat in their bright orange prison gaube. And then we heard from the prosecutor that they said two of their witnesses, witnesses

8:13have been intimidated by people connected with the accused. And the judge has then ordered the three accused to be removed from the courtroom and moved to a second room in order for the trial to proceed from here. And how long is this process expected to take? So the trial is supposed to take four weeks, 20 days, but we have had this dramatic last minute change to the plan. So the judge who was supposed to be presiding over this case has had an unspecified accident, which means is unable to preside. There is a new judge who has taken over the case, but he wasn't actually here in person. He's presiding over it virtually. And we told that it may impact the timeline, particularly tomorrow. He's not here in Ensenada, so he will have to travel to Ensenada. He has to deal with his own load of work that he had before taking on this case. There are dozens of witnesses who are going to be called forensics, but also the Robinson

9:14family will also be asked to give evidence. But all in all, yes, it should be up to four weeks for the trial to take place. But we then are expecting a very quick sentencing that judge has 24 hours to decide on judgment and then a week after that. If they are found guilty, they will need to decide what the sentences are. The prosecution is asking for more than 200 years for each of the men. Carrington Clark reporting from Ensenada in Mexico. As fighting escalates in Lebanon, there are increasing fears. The fragile ceasefire is on the brink of collapse. Israel occupies 6% of territory in southern Lebanon and is refusing to leave until Hezbollah is disarmed. But the Iranian-backed militant group is refusing to do so. Stephanie March reports from southern Lebanon. Standing atop a pile of rubble that was once her parents' apartment building in the southern Lebanese city of Nabatea, 32-year-old pharmacist and Italian teacher, Mawa Hussein, is examining

10:17a torn, dust-covered exercise book. Her five-year-old son Amir jumps across the mountains of broken concrete, looking for remnants of their family's life. As we talk, we can hear shelling in the distance. Do you feel safe now? No, definitely not, she says. I mean, the Israelis are here, she says, gesturing to where the shelling noise came from. Some of the most recent fighting has been at Ali Al-Tahia Ridge near Nabatea, where his bollafighters have been holed up in tunnels underneath. We drive as close as we can to the front line. It does feel eerie. Getting out of the car, the roads are deserted. Suddenly, a shell lands on the ridge. Let's go. In recent days, the IDF say they've gained operational control of Ali Al-Tahia, but

11:22Hasbola are yet to comment. In an effort to end nearly three years of war, in June, Lebanon and Israel signed an agreement that would require Hasbola to disarm, and the Lebanese army to take control of areas in the occupied zone before Israeli troops withdraw. But Hasbola is refusing to comply. I asked Hasbola MP Ibrahim Musawi about why his group won't give up its weapons. When the government and the army escape, they'll defend the people, which didn't happen, and it's not foreseeable in the foreseeable future. You cannot tell people not to defend themselves. So that's a yes. Hasbola would disarm if there were guarantees around security and protection of the Lebanese people and the Lebanese state by the Lebanese armed forces and the government. We're trying to simplify the issue. I'll tell you what, actually. It's not a yes or no question. What guarantees do we have that these Israelis won't come again?

12:23Lebanon's former spy chief Abbas Ibrahim is worried any efforts to force Hasbola to disarm could lead to conflict. These tensions may transition into street skirmishes, he tells me. I'm not saying a civil war, but clashes on the street and tension, he says. For a war weary nation, it's a frightening prospect. This is Stephanie March in Lebanon reporting for AN. Throughout a decade of wild price swings and ugly headlines, Australia's gas industry has maintained a united front against any and every attempt by governments to intervene. For the first time, cracks are appearing in the facade of gas industry solidarity in Australia and they're revealing deep frustrations with one player, Santos. Energy reporter Daniel Mercer has the story. Australia's gas industry is a national titan worth about $85 billion a year.

13:27It's been in the headlines for ages, but often for the wrong reasons. A damning report about Australia's gas crisis. Gas prices are as much as five times higher than normal. The cost of living crisis is set to deepen for Australian households with another hit to gas prices from now. Amid plans for a federal reservation scheme that would require producers to supply the equivalent of 20% of exports to the local market every year, the industry's united front is splintering, revealing deep frustrations with one player. All roads lead to Santos's GLNG project. Salk Havonic is an oil and gas analyst at MST Financial. He explains GLNG, or Gladstone LNG, is a giant gas export plant built on Curtis Island in Queensland last decade alongside Shell's QCLNG and origins APLNG. It's operated by Australia's second biggest oil and gas company, Santos, and counts among its investors South Korea's Kogas and Malaysia's Petronas. But Kavanik says Santos was alone among the big three in Queensland in building its plant

14:28without having the gas to fill it. And therefore, it doesn't have more gas left over to sell domestic market. In fact, it needs to buy gas out of the domestic market just to meet its contracts. Since starting operations in 2015, Kavanik says GLNG has sucked up the equivalent of 20% of domestic gas supplies on Australia's eastern seaboard. It's a far cry from the way the company sold the project to the public 15 years ago. At the time, Santos told regulators the development would not divert gas from the local market, would have no effect on prices and would not lead to shortages. Paul Farrow is the national secretary of the Australian Workers Union. This is multiple governments that have been hoodwinked by Santos in the past, by GLNG in the past. But former Woodside Chief Executive Peter Coleman says eastern Australia's gas problems can't be blamed on one exporter. He says government bans on gas exploration and dwindling reserves in the Bass Strait have been major factors too, but he understands the frustration. The companies have a license or a right to develop it, but at the end of the day the resource itself is owned by the people and we have an obligation to ensure that endowment

15:32is used in the best way possible. With a draft of the reservation policy due within weeks, federal resources Minister Madeline King won't be drawn on whether Santos's GLNG project will be targeted, but she stresses the scheme will not affect contracts with overseas buyers. Analyst Saul Kavanik says the government faces a clear choice. I think fundamentally for the reservation policy to have a chance of working, it has to apply the obligation equally across three projects. Oil and gas analysts Saul Kavanik ending that report by Daniel Mercer and a spokeswoman for Santos says the company had historically supplied the most of any exporter during winter and neither GLNG nor the Queensland LNG industry had caused gas shortages or price spikes. The spokeswoman says Santos did not intend to contract new gas supplies from the domestic market to meet any LNG shortfalls from this year onwards. Patients and patient advocacy groups are descending on Canberra today asking for changes to how

16:35potential life-saving medicines are made available and affordable in Australia. They say our assessment and reimbursement processes delay access to medicines and cause financial and emotional distress while the federal government defends the way medicines are approved and subsidised in Australia. It acknowledges we do need to keep pace with scientific advances. Catherine Gregory reports, Shea Thannenjian says her 29-year-old sister's stage 4 pancreatic cancer was easily missed. She was 8 months postpartum and started to have a bit of back pain and then she was starting to lose a bit more weight. Once diagnosed in 2023 and with little treatment options here, Shea Thannenjian sister joined a promising clinical trial in the US. It prolonged her life by several months before her death. Shea Thannenjian,

17:36Shea Thannenjian is part of a group of dozens of patients and patient organisations at a summit in Canberra today calling for reforms to Australia's medicines approval system, so more of these innovative treatments are made available and affordable here. Having these drugs where they do get approved overseas, be able to get to Australia quicker. The group which includes the Long Foundation and MS Australia and is supported and funded by major pharmaceutical company Bristol Myasquib says the pharmaceutical benefit scheme systems aren't keeping up with scientific advances. Australian patients are missing out on the latest innovative treatments that are available in other countries. Elizabeth Dessoma is CEO of medicines Australia. The pharmaceutical industry representative body. It says that only 26% of new medicines available in comparable OECD nations are currently funded on the PBS in Australia. More and more patients are being prescribed medicines that are not available at the subsidized price on the PBS and their only way to access them is to either fund themselves out of pocket

18:40or visit other countries. Labour MP and pediatrician Mike Freelander will be at the patient summit. And we do need to be careful about looking at different ways of approving efficacy and value for money. Professor David Thomas is the inaugural director of the Centre for Molecular Oncology at UNSW and also says it's a challenge. He points to the breakthrough drug, Dirac's on Rassib, which treats pancreatic cancer and got approved by America's FDA within two months, but will likely take much longer here. It's not so much about that particular drug, but it does bring into focus the importance of timely, equitable, transparent access. In a statement of federal government's boxed persons said it's continuing to make medicines available cheaper and faster. Catherine Gregory reporting, and that's AM for today. Thanks for your company. I'm Rachel Mealy. Hi, I'm Sam Hawley, host of the ABC News Daily podcast.

19:41We're in the midst of a global bond sell-off, rattling markets around the world. So what's going on and is Donald Trump to blame? Today, Justin Wolff has Professor of Economics and Public Policy at the University of Michigan, explains what's happening and what it means for your money. Look for the ABC News Daily podcast on ABC Listen.