Hartsuyker jumps on Murdoch misinformation bandwagon and rest of mainstream media fall in line behind him

This was Denis Shanahan and Jared Owens writing an ‘exclusive in The Australian on 17 July 2013:

In a rush to spend as much money as possible in marginal seats, the Rudd government has given surf lifesaving clubs 72 hours to apply for funds for "shovel-ready" projects to be announced before the election campaign…….

This was the Federal Nationals MP for Cowper, Luke Hartsuyker, hopping on the bandwagon at ABC Regional News 17 July 2013:

The Nationals member for Cowper Luke Hartsuyker said the surf club grants are blatant pork-barrelling.

"The real issue here whether this is an appropriate use of tax payers money or whether this is actually corrupt conduct," he said.

This was Luke Hartsuyker again making sure his electorate got the news on Page 5 of The Daily Examiner 18 July 2013:

Cowper MP Luke Hartsuyker came out swinging after he heard lifesaving clubs would only have three days to lodge funding applications.

"Funding for surf lifesaving clubs should be provided on the basis of need, not on the basis of getting Kevin Rudd re-elected," Mr Hartsuyker said.

"Now we have Kevin Rudd saying he will provide funds to surf lifesaving clubs on the basis of a club's location, without any consideration to a club's need or its capacity to service the local community.

"A 72-hour timeframe for all funding applications to be lodged is not the way to govern Australia."

There is one small problem with this story – it was incorrect and Surf Life Saving Australia informed the media of this at 4.27pm on 17 July 2013.

Something The Australian had to admit the next day on 18 July 2013:

SLSA released a statement confirming chief executive Greg Nance spearheaded the push "of his own initiative". "SLSA is not aware of any official federal government grant programs other than those already in the public domain," the statement said.

Mr Nance was unavailable to be interviewed.

SLSA spokesman Guy Britt declined to explain what federal funding was being sought, why the deadline was so short or whether the submissions were transmitted last night as indicated.

UPDATE:

Of course it is possible that the Member For Cowper is assigning to the Rudd Labor Government the very same motives which drove the former Howard Coalition Government (of which he was a member) in the lead up to the 9 October 2004 and 24 November 2007 federal elections.

The Sydney Morning Herald 16 November 2007:

THE Coalition used a controversial grants program to make a flurry of election-eve handouts and has funnelled millions of dollars into projects in marginal seats against departmental advice, an audit has found.

A scathing report on the Regional Partnerships Program by the Australian National Audit Office outlines a litany of grants made without proper paperwork or explanation, including many that were fast-tracked just before the last election. It found:

■ The 10 electorates that received the most funding were all held by the Coalition.

■ 55 per cent of 2004 election commitments went to marginal electorates.

■ Of 43 projects that were approved despite the department not recommending to proceed, 38 were in Coalition seats.

■ In a 51-minute spending spree in the hours before the government went into caretaker mode in 2004, the parliamentary secretary responsible for the program, De-Anne Kelly, approved 16 grants worth $3.349 million.

A long-serving official in the auditor's office told the Herald yesterday: "This is the worst thing I have ever seen."

The audit found the three ministers overseeing the program were more likely to approve grants that were not recommended by the Department of Transport and Regional Services if they went to projects in Coalition seats. Projects that were recommended by the department were more likely to be knocked back if they were in Labor seats.