Scott Morrison has dudded Sydney on traffic congestion.

The Auditor-General has issued a scathing report about Mr Morrison’s $660 million Commuter Car Park Fund, created ahead of the 2019 election.

This was more a pork-and-ride fund, than park and ride.

With 47 new car parks chosen for funding, two-thirds of the funding went to Melbourne marginal electorates in spite of the acute traffic congestion in Sydney.

Public money for grant programs should be allocated according to need. Competing proposals should be carefully weighed against clearly understood benchmarks to ensure taxpayers are getting value.

But that’s not Scott Morrison’s way. The Prime Minister has turned pork barrelling into an art form.

The evidence is clear in the Auditor-General’s report.

It cited research by the independent Infrastructure Australia which established that eight of Australia’s ten most congested roads were located in Sydney.

Melbourne has just one road in the top ten – the road from the city’s airport to the City.

Despite this, Mr Morrison handed out two-thirds of his Commuter Carpark Fund to projects in Melbourne.

The report also makes it absolutely clear that Mr Morrison was personally involved in approving these projects.

This is an insult to Sydneysiders who struggle each day to find a parking spot in an existing commuter car park, as well as to people who live near train stations where local roads are choked each day with car park overflow.

Traffic congestion is a serious problem in all of Australia’s capital cities. It must be addressed in accordance with demonstrated need.

But Mr Morrison treats public money as though it is Liberal Party money.

The pork-and-ride fund sits under the umbrella of the $4.8 billion Urban Congestion Fund, which also includes road funding.

The Audit Office found that Victoria has received 38 percent of the fund but NSW just 16 percent.

The car park rort is just the latest in a succession of malpractice by the Morrison Government when it comes to publicly funded grant schemes.

First came Sports Rorts, where the Government awarded Community Sports Infrastructure Grants on the basis of a spreadsheet colour-coded according to which party held particular seats.

Sports clubs around the nation were invited to apply for grants to improve their facilities.

But dozens that applied in good faith and met the funding criteria missed out because they were not located in a marginal or target seat.

After a public outcry, former Sports Minister Bridget McKenzie resigned to take the heat off the Prime Minister. Senator McKenzie has since been reappointed to Cabinet as though nothing ever happened.

Then came the Female Facilities and Water Safety Stream program, designed to increase female participation in sport by providing better facilities, such as changing rooms.

This time, Mr Morrison avoided accountability completely by not creating grant guidelines.

The Government simply handed out money at its discretion.

And despite the scheme having been sold as being aimed at regional areas, it was used to upgrade the North Sydney Swimming Pool, right next to the Sydney Harbour Bridge.

This shameless pork barrelling must stop. And it will under a Labor Government.

A Labor Government will also establish an effective anti-corruption commission to ensure there is proper accountability around use of taxpayers’ funds.

The Australian public deserves nothing less.

This opinion piece was first published in the Daily Telegraph on Wednesday, 7 July 2021.