Sports rorts scandal to face legal test
Maurice Blackburn Lawyers will appear at a case management hearing in the Federal Court on Friday in a case seeking to overturn a decision made by the Australian Sports Commission (ASC) to reject a funding application from the Beechworth Lawn Tennis Club (BLTC) as part of the sports rorts scandal.
Maurice Blackburn’s Josh Bornstein will lead a team of lawyers seeking to have the Federal Court overturn ASC’s decision to reject BLTC’s application and an order for the club’s application to be reconsidered, this time lawfully.
“In this case, the court will be asked to determine if the ASC acted unlawfully and breached its statutory duties in what has become known as the sports rorts affair,” Mr Bornstein said.
“Under the ASC Act, the ASC is required to make decisions to award community sports grants independent from government and party political considerations.
“As we now all know however, the ASC abandoned its proper role and took direction from the Prime Minister’s office and the Sports Minister to allocate grants in seats to help re-elect LNP politicians.
“While the corruption of the sports grant process has been highlighted in both the Parliament and the media, those involved have not been held to account. This case aims to ensure all concerned are made accountable.
“The application also seeks to challenge the decision to give a grant to the Wangaratta Clay Target Club – a club of which Senator McKenzie was a member.
“This Federal Court challenge is an important test case about the legality of the entire sports rorts affair. If the BLTC is successful in its application, then the benefit is likely to flow through to all other clubs that should have received grants on merit,” he said.
Do you think the government should be held accountable for the sports rorts affair? Should there be a federal corruption investigation commission established to try and crack down on corruption at a federal level?
This should be a line in the sand to all political parties that using taxpayer funds to increase the chance of re-election is simply not acceptable.
It also reinforces the need for a completely independent body to investigate corruption at all levels and especially at the top.