A great Australian once said the standard you walk past is the standard you accept.  If Labor get a pass mark for all their pork barrelling then so should the Coalition until ALL parliament is held to account.

Except when Labor got caught out last time the minister had to resign? So let's keep the current government to that standard.

Additionally, why aren't you advocating for a lifting of standards now? I agree that Government process needs reform and greater accountability. Let's start with this minister. 

But why single out the conservative?  What about sitting MPs who might have been guilty of doing the same thing when they served former governments?  Should they be held to account as well?

They should all be held accountable. With the current minister, I think she should step aside from her portfolio as a minimum.

Gee it might have something to do with being in power RIGHT NOW and having the ability to allocate taxpayer funds RIGHT NOW.

Jesus tapdancing Christ rusty. You are guilty of EVERYTHING you claim "The left" do.

What about the Labor MPs who did it?  Should they step aside too?  

Thats the problem.  Why zero in on the issue RIGHT NOW when governments of both ilks have always done it.  Can be sure it happens at local and state levels as well.  Mckenzie shouldnt be the only one to fall on her sword, when its a systemic problem in all governments and the public and media has largely condoned it.  As a great magnificent Australian once said, the standard you walk past... is the standard... you accept.  Heed these fine words young man... heed these words.

Sure, they can all resign from their shadow ministries...

Because Scott Morrison is a self proclaimed Prime Minister of standards.

Also, when the ALP were caught in the past, the minister also resigned.

Zeroing in right now because the story is only breaking right now 

Fuck me you are dense 

-PB

No he isnt.  He knows what he is doing. A typical right winger 

Im just pointing out that pork barrelling isnt new or particularly egregious and media and public have turned a blind eye to it for decades.

Just because class clown PB thinks its a breaking news flash doesnt give it legitimacy. 

I dont agree with what Mckenzie did but its a systemic problem across all parliament and it requires a systemic response, not a media pile on a single conservative senator.  Scapegoating is an inneffective and partisan way to resolve problems, we should hold our parliamentarians to higher standards rather than cheap political attacks.

Sadly you folks just cant see past your prejudice of conservatives in parliament hence why youre easily mislead by biased fake news.

All i read was bur but but labor  did it too. Seriously the argument of the other side did it is tiresome but Typical of those who are so far up their arses to see it 

No doubt she should go but it'd be naive in the extreme to think little ol' Bridgette cooked this up all on her lonesome rather than a well planned orchestrated campaign deliberately targeting marginal seat.

Scomo #scottyfrommarekting would have been all over this.

You obviously read what you wanted to read and not what was actually written.  If you read it properly from the beginning you would realise that I didnt say “bur but bur Labor did it to” but what I actually said was that this was an “systemic problem affecting ALL sides of government”.  Did you see the word ‘ALL’ in there? 

I get that the Minister did something wrong but clearly there are mitigating circumstances and it points to a MUCH LARGER problem of appropriation of taxpayer funds that and thats what we the public should be focussing on, how we can REFORM parliament to increase transparency and accountability, not just a cheap frenzied attack on a political rival.

I know that baying for blood of a conservative MP sometimes overwhelms the senses and the ability to think logically but cant you see how the media is playing you here?  

Says the guy that wants us to continue to look the other way because labor are guilty of the same practice. 

Isn't that EXACTLY what the "lefty" Fairfax article you posted is doing?  

Police Officer: I saw you speeding there.

Rusty: But everyone does it. Why did you pull me over now? Is it because I’m a conservative? You just want to punish me because I’m a conservative, etc.

Police officer: I saw you speeding there

Labor pollie: I am a member of the Australian Labor Party sir

Police officer: Oops my mistake, carry on

Man you're hopeless at jokes . 

Great to see Bettina Arndt get an award for promoting gender equality for men, but even better to see those bitter man hating feminists totally lose their shit over it.

Low energy troll.  2/10.

100% correct.

But these numpties don't care about actually solving the problem. They just want a political scalp on a platter to score political points which isn't exactly addressing the real issue.

Yes a very well deserved award. Well done Bettina.

We thank you for the freebie salt bonanza as well. After the last election Liberal win, Boris Johnstone and Trump. I think we all now need to have a blood pressure checked. Saltilicious!

The comments from Mr McCormack came shortly before Senator McKenzie was dealt a further blow by the leaking of damaging documents outlining Sport Australia’s concern at her management of the grant program and how her office administered the funds.

The ABC said it had obtained a leaked spreadsheet prepared by the minister’s office in 2018 with a colour-coded breakdown of what party held the seats where potential projects were based, raising fresh questions over how funds were allocated.

The Nationals leader told The Australian he remained supportive of his deputy but said he did now know whether she would retain her position after the findings of the inquiry — being conducted by Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet Secretary Philip Gaetjens — are handed down.

“I’m not really inclined to second guess the process because I think the process has to be left to run its natural course,” Mr McCormack said.

“I don’t know where it might go. I guess the secretary of PM&C will get all the evidence before him, weigh all that up, make a determination based on that. So I don’t really know when or what he will come up with so we will just have to wait and see.”

Nationals MP Llew O’Brien also warned that the saga had become a political distraction for the government.

“I think she (Senator McKenzie) has the support of the partyroom but I want to start talking about the reason we are in Canberra and stop talking about ­ourselves,” Mr O’Brien said.

Asked whether Senator McKenzie needed to resign to give the government free air, Mr O’Brien replied: “That is not for me to make that decision.

“It has been my view that Bridget has always wanted us to be doing our job and I think Bridget will do whatever is best for us to do our job.”

The crisis over Senator McKenzie was triggered by an Australian National Audit Office review that found the community sports grants scheme, managed by her office, was biased towards marginal seats and electorates targeted by the ­Coalition before the May poll.

Labor seized on the ABC report on Tuesday that Sport Australia executive director Robin O’Neill had written to Senator McKenzie before the election warning the agency’s independence was being compromised by her handling of the program.

While a roller derby upgrade in the safe seat of Nationals MP Darren Chester reportedly did not receive a grant despite receiving a 98 out of 100 rating from Sport Australia, a football club in the marginal Liberal seat of La Trobe received a $500,000 grant with a score of just 50 out of 100.

Sports Minister Richard Colbeck demanded an assurance from Sport Australia and the Health Department that they were not responsible for the leaks. “I have today asked the secretary of the Department of Health and the CEO of Sport Australia to provide me with an assurance that documents provided to the media today relating to the assessment of Community Sports Infrastructure Grants did not come out of their agencies,” Mr Colbeck said in a statement.

Labor sports spokesman Don Farrell strengthened his push for Senator McKenzie to resign, saying that “every piece of information about this scandal paints an even more shocking picture”.

“Senior officials warned the minister that Sport Australia was not comfortable with her wholesale political interference,” Senator Farrell said.

“Australians know this was wrong. Sport Australia and the minister’s own staff knew it was wrong. The Auditor-General knew it was wrong.”

One Nationals MP told The Australian that if the crisis was not resolved by the time parliament resumed next week, it could pose a threat to the Nat­ionals’ entire leadership team and have serious repercussions for Mr McCormack.

“If there’s a spill, if somebody has to go in and call a spill, it then starts to risk the leadership team in its entirety,” the MP said.

The frontrunner for the deputy position, if it becomes available, is Drought and Emergency Management Minister David Littleproud.

Resources Minister Matthew Canavan is seen as the obvious candidate for Senate leader and a chance for the deputy position, along with Veterans Minister Darren Chester.

Nationals MP Mark Coulton supported Senator McKenzie ­retaining the deputy position.

“The Nationals generally stick by their colleagues when they get into difficulty. I think you will find the majority will do that with Bridget,” he said.

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-01-29/sports-clubs-denied-funding-sports-australia-grants-want-answers/11907988

So many Soccer clubs denied funding...

Be interesting to see if the court action is attempted.

-PB

Scott Morrison has repeatedly defended the sport grant program because of its focus on female participation in community sports, saying the government had directed funds to projects “because we didn’t want to see girls changing in cars or out the back of the sheds rather than having their own changing facilities”.

But documents seen by the Guardian show at least 12 applications for grants to build or upgrade female change rooms were rejected by then sports minister Bridget McKenzie, despite receiving excellent scores from Sport Australia, the body that assessed proposals against objective, independent criteria.

One of the rejected applications – a bid by the Cherry Gardens Ironbank Recreation Ground to build female-friendly change rooms – scored 94 out of 100, one of the highest scores in the nation.


Rofl.

-PB

He should stop digging a hole. Stand McKenzie down while it blows over...

This government is such a bunch of slimebags. 

Adding to my earlier point:

https://twitter.com/simonhill1894/status/1222339723949068288?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1222339723949068288&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.westsydneyfootball.com%2Findex.php%3Fapp%3Dcore%26module%3Dsystem%26controller%3Dembed%26url%3Dhttps%3A%2F%2Ftwitter.com%2Fsimonhill1894%2Fstatus%2F1222339723949068288%3Fs%3D20