Watchdog chief flags interest in Labor's invite-only grants program

The acting commissioner of Australia's National Anti-Corruption Commission has told a Senate inquiry that several features of Labor's invite-only election grants scheme have caught her attention, though she stopped short of saying corrupt conduct occurred. Kylie Kilgour said it was not possible to form a view without a thorough investigation conducted under the NACC Act, according to the Age. Among the aspects she flagged were changes made to the program over questions about its constitutional validity.

Kilgour said she had not yet seen evidence that would place the scheme within the NACC's jurisdiction and indicated she would defer to a possible audit by the Australian National Audit Office in the meantime. She became emotional while delivering the commission's opening statement, describing Haines as instrumental in the creation of the NACC and saying the commission had sent a message of support to her office.

The inquiry is scrutinising the $560.9 million Major and Local Community Infrastructure Program. Analysis by the Centre for Public Integrity found close to three-quarters of its grants went to seats that were notionally Labor-held or competitive, and attention has focused on the Marrickville Golf Club in Albanese's electorate of Grayndler, which had already received five federal grants worth almost $58,000 before the prime minister promised it $6 million during the 2025 campaign.

Guidelines for the scheme were republished on October 2, 2025 after concerns that the original design, released a month earlier, was constitutionally invalid. Because the Commonwealth cannot directly fund local sporting and community facilities, the program was reworked so money could flow through state or local governments under section 96 of the Constitution. In a submission to the inquiry, constitutional expert Anne Twomey rejected the idea that politically directed grants simply reflect diligent local representation, describing the practice instead as grey corruption and a misuse of public money.

Albanese has also been pressed over a five-page background file his media office sent to federal politics journalists in September, which suggested questioning of Haines about funding requests she made and her interests in the organisations involved. Asked about the document, the prime minister said it was a list of funding asks showing that people of integrity stand up for their electorate, and denied it was personal criticism of Haines. Crossbench MP Monique Ryan told the Age that Haines had known about the file and laughed it off.

Haines, the regional Victorian independent who campaigned for the NACC's establishment and criticised the grants program, was the victim of a violent car attack on Monday. She has had both legs amputated and remains in a critical condition. The inquiry will continue, with dozens of senators' questions to the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet deferred and queries about which ministers allocated funding, the Marrickville Golf Club grant and the ministerial code of conduct taken on notice.