Pork-barrelling should be banned under ministerial code: ex-ICAC boss

Summary: Call for Pork-Barrelling Ban in Federal Ministerial Code of Conduct

Peter Hall, former chief of the NSW corruption watchdog, advocates for a ban on pork-barrelling in the federal Ministerial Code of Conduct, arguing that it can equate to criminal conduct when public funds are allocated for party-political gain. This push is part of the Centre for Public Integrity’s initiatives as the Joint Committee of Public Accounts and Audit probes Commonwealth grants administration. The Centre urges for transparency in all grant criteria and quarterly reports from ministers on expenditure decisions that deviate from departmental advice. Hall proposes that the National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC) should have jurisdiction over such conduct, which should be explicitly mentioned in the definition of corrupt conduct in the NACC Act. The NACC is expected to start operating in mid-2023.

This summary comes from The Australian, was written by Stephen Rice, and can be found here.