A recent report has revealed that the majority of federal grants distributed under the $560 million Major and Local Community Infrastructure Program were allocated to seats held by the governing Labor party. The analysis, conducted by the Centre for Public Integrity, found that over 73 percent of the funding went to Labor-held electorates.

In contrast, coalition-held seats received approximately 23 percent of the funding, with other seats receiving about four percent. Specifically, $493 million of the grants were directed to seats where Labor was considered competitive, while $66 million went to seats where the party was not.

Anthony Whealy, chair of the Centre for Public Integrity, stated that these figures raise significant questions about the fairness of the distribution process. "When approximately three-quarters of a $560 million community grants program goes to the government's own electorates, serious questions have to be asked," Whealy said. He added that the process makes it difficult for the public to be confident that political advantage, rather than merit, determined the recipients of the funds.

Assistant Treasurer Daniel Mulino disputed the claims of pork barrelling, describing the program as a long-standing practice consistent with previous government approaches to deliver election commitments. "This is about making sure that governments, when they make commitments during an election, have a process after the election for delivering those commitments in a timely way," Mulino told ABC Radio.

However, independent MP Helen Haines called for a reform of federal grant programs, characterizing the scheme as an attempt at political barrelling and emphasizing that community needs should supersede political considerations. Independent MP Kate Chaney echoed these concerns, drawing parallels to past controversies and stating, "This is pork barrelling, and we've seen it before. The coalition had sports rorts, and now Labor is park barrelling - money for parks and playgrounds, pools and sports ovals all promised during the election campaign."

During its time in opposition, the Labor party had been critical of the previous coalition government's community sport infrastructure grants, alleging they favored Liberal and National seats. That controversy, which became known as "sports rorts," led to the resignation of then-sports minister Bridget McKenzie from cabinet.