Media release
Inner West Mayor Darcy Byrne
Inner West Council welcomes the decision of the Minns Government to claw back $36 million in funding that was improperly granted to Hornsby Council by the former NSW Government.
Hornsby Council received $90 million from the $250 million Stronger Communities Program which was subsequently revealed to be a Liberal National Party slush fund and one of the most egregious examples of pork-barrelling in the State's history.
The fund had been established to support forcibly amalgamated councils; despite this, merged councils like the Inner West and Canterbury-Bankstown were improperly prevented from even applying for grants.
Inner West Mayor Darcy Byrne congratulated the Government on addressing this rort and called for the funds to be reallocated to councils who were done over through the scheme.
"It was a disgrace that Hornsby Council, which wasn't even amalgamated, received $90 million from a program that was meant to help merged councils. Inner West did not receive a single dollar.
"It's good and proper that the Government is clawing back some of this rorted money and the communities who were ripped off should receive some of the benefit.
"In 12 years under the former Government, our community was systematically cut off from state funding. The Liberal and National parties saw public money as their own political slush fund.
"Some of this $36 million should be distributed to communities like ours that have missed out and can help to deliver desperately needed community infrastructure and facilities."
