Australia Agriculture Minister McKenzie Quits Over Sports Grants

(Bloomberg) -- Bridget McKenzie resigned as Australia’s agriculture minister after weeks of criticism over her handling of a A$100 million ($67 million) sport-grants program before last year’s election.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison said McKenzie had tendered her resignation following an internal investigation that found she had breached ministerial standards by failing to declare she was a member of a shooting club for which she approved a A$36,000 grant.

The investigation found the “timing was such that a potential conflict should have been clear,” Morrison said at a press conference in Canberra on Sunday.

McKenzie will also step down as deputy leader of the National Party, the junior member of the ruling coalition. Her departure may trigger a bout of jockeying for the role, and the cabinet position that comes with her.

Dubbed the “sports rorts” affair, the furor was sparked by a report last month by the National Audit Office that found McKenzie, who was then sports minister, overrode recommendations from Sports Australia and instead directed grants to projects in marginal seats that were crucial to the government’s prospects of winning the election.

In one instance, the Guardian reported, an Adelaide rugby club received a A$500,000 grant for facilities including a new female dressing room, despite not fielding a women’s team since 2018 when it was embroiled in a sexism controversy.

Morrison then ordered a separate inquiry into whether McKenzie breached ministerial standards over the gun-club grant.

By announcing her resignation today, the prime minister will be hoping to put a lid on the outcry and head off further attacks by the opposition Labor party when parliament this week sits for the first time this year.

To contact the reporter on this story: Peter Vercoe in Sydney at pvercoe@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Shamim Adam at sadam2@bloomberg.net, Stanley James

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