Audit Committee: Catherine King and Investment Program

audit committee: Labor had written to the audit committee asking it to look into the program's administration after the auditor general released a scathing report into the Coalition's handling of the 220m regional jobs scheme, according to The Guardian. Audit office blasts roll-out of Coalition's 200m regional jobs and investment program Read more The shadow infrastructure minister, Catherine King, welcomed the committee's inquiry, and warned against a repeat of the government's failings with the administration of a new 200m special drought round to be awarded under the building better regions fund BBRF . King said the criteria for the new funding round were so loose he regional development minister Michael McCormack can decide eligibility based on his feelings . Rural and regional Australians living through this extended drought need support from the government, not uncertainty, King said. On Monday, the Joint Committee of Public Accounts and Audit announced it had agreed to commence an inquiry into the Regional Jobs and Investment Packages RJIP program, along with the Australian Research Council's administration of the national competitive grants program. I don't want to see councils and community organisations spending thousands of dollars and countless hours preparing an application only for the minister to arbitrarily rule them ineligible. In November, the government announced it would direct 200m from the BBRF to create a special drought round for drought-affected councils, providing up to 10m per project in regional local government areas. King said McCormack needed to urgently clarify the rainfall and socioeconomic benchmarks for grant funding, and reveal how he would deem a location as eligible. (news.financializer.com). As reported in the news.