Sports club have shared their despair over missing out on money handed out through the $100 million sports grants program before the last election.
Volunteers from cricket, pony and football clubs expressed the disappointment in evidence to a Senate committee in Adelaide after having projects deemed meritorious rejected for funding.
The Goolwa District Pony Club, which applied for almost $40,000 to replace an old ex-army hut with new rooms revealed their frustration in the wake of persistent questions over the program's handling.
“We put our heart and soul into these applications. To have it tinkered with, in such a disingenuous way is just disappointing really,” the pony club's president James Meyer told senators.
“Politicians might look at why we distrust them well it’s activities like this that foster that distrust."
The Federal Government insists the scheme was managed with proper ministerial discretion and all projects that received funding were eligible.
But pressure has ensued after the auditor-general found funding favoured seats being targeted by the Coalition and then sports minister Bridget McKenzie ran a parallel assessment process to approve decisions.
The pony club missed out on funding despite government agency Sport Australia giving them a merit score of 82 out of 100.
Dr Meyer said the club was devastated to learn through media it had beaten the 74-point threshold before being overruled by the minister.
"It doesn't really matter whether the community benefits, it's whether the person handing out the money is going to benefit," he said.
The Coromandel Valley Ramblers Cricket Club wanted new rooms to replace a six-by-six metre tin roof without walls - which is currently making up their club-house facilities.
The cricket club's president Matt Smith said the club had been pushing for the project for 10 years, with hundreds of hours spent on multiple grant applications.
“It is disappointing - it's frustrating there is a lot of work that goes into this,” he said.
“It would be nice if it's always a level playing field.”
The project also would have built new public toilets at the club's ground.
"The existing toilets are from '50s or '60s and disgusting, to put it mildly. Virtually everyone refuses to use those toilets," he said.
Liberal Senator Eric Abetz questioned whether the clubs were aware of a section of the application form which said other factors could be considered.
"This was not in the small print. This was not a footnote," he said.
He said without the minister’s discretion 30 federal seats would have not had any projects funded and only five electorates missed out after this oversight was applied.
“Can you see geography might be an important consideration for the government to take into account?” Senator Abetz asked.
The clubs admitted they knew ministerial discretion could be considered but said they were not made aware of what these other factors were surrounding applications.
The City of Salisbury’s request for a $500,000 grant to upgrade the Bridgestone Athletics Centre received a merit-based score of 90 out of 100.
The council's chief executive officer John Harry said they just wanted more transparency on why their application failed despite the high assessment score.
“I believe our application has met criteria - if it doesn't get funding then it is not an unreasonable proposition to understand what areas it didn't meet the criteria,” he said.
Emeritus law professor Geoffrey Lindell told the committee he had serious doubts over whether the minister even had the legal authority to approve the grants.
He also raised legal doubts about the potential involvement of the prime minister's office or other ministerial officials making late changes to which projects got funding.
"The cloud hangs over all of them because we go back to the central starting point - the commission (Sport Australia) is the legally appointed decision-maker," Professor Lindell said.
Barmera Monash Football Club former vice-president Nigel Dillon said they had scored 76 out of 100 only to miss out.
He believed his club's project would have helped increase female participation in sport within their area.
"To be blunt, we're in a safe Liberal seat here in the Riverland. It was very disappointing," Mr Dillon said.
“I get a lot of eye-rolling when we start to talk about a merit-based process and meeting criteria.”
Former sports minister Bridget McKenzie was forced to quit amid a perceived conflict of interest over her membership to a local gun club.
The Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet secretary Phil Gaetjens investigated the minister's handling of the scheme and found no evidence of political bias.
However, Mr Gaetjens report to the prime minister remains confidential.
With additional reporting from AAP
