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Bridget McKenzie should have gone weeks ago: Labor

Bridget McKenzie's role in handing out the sports grants will be examined by a Senate committee.

Bridget McKenzie's role in handing out the sports grants will be examined by a Senate committee. Photo: The Nationals/Bridget McKenzie

Federal Labor frontbencher Jason Clare is astonished Bridget McKenzie still has a job in the Morrison government’s ministry, saying the Prime Minister has got all the information to act now on the so-called sports rorts scandal.

“She should have been sacked three weeks ago,” Mr Clare told ABC television on Saturday.

“There are more smoking guns here than a Clint Eastwood movie.”

Senator McKenzie is under intense pressure to quit after the Auditor-General found the government’s $100 million sports grants program favoured marginal and targeted seats before last year’s election.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison says he hasn’t received advice from Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet secretary Philip Gaetjens after ordering him to investigate the scheme.

Mr Gaetjens is also looking into a $36,000 grant the former sports minister awarded to a Victorian shooting club of which she is a member.

“Any other prime minister would have sacked Bridget McKenzie by now,” Mr Clare said.

“Think about this – (former Liberal MP) Bronwyn Bishop got sacked for a $5000 helicopter ride. This is $100 million of taxpayers’ money, and the Prime Minister still hasn’t acted.”

Parliament sits for the first this year next week.

Liberal MP Jason Falinski expects Mr Gaetjens to present his report sometime this weekend.

“The Prime Minister will then announce the outcome of that review and we’ll have to go from there,” Mr Falinski told ABC television.

The Prime Minister insists all projects that received grants were eligible and claims the program was not about saving the Coalition at the election.

Mr Morrison told the National Press Club this week his role was only to relay representations he had received.

-AAP

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