John Barilaro's lawyers are arguing:

“There’s no subterfuge, no dishonesty, no fraud, according to that particular this is something my client openly and proudly does,” she said. “It doesn’t fall within the notion of a corrupt conman.”

They are running this defence because Barilaro hadn't even tried to hide it in the past:

“Well my name is John Barilaro, call me Pork-Barilaro, and I have no apology because at the end of the day I will stand up and fight for our communities,”

As Bernard Keane writes in Crikey:

"Pork-barrelling is the most costly form of soft corruption in Australia, totalling hundreds of millions of dollars a year in wasted taxpayer funds at the state and federal level.

And corruption it is: Transparency International defines political corruption as including “manipulation of policies, institutions and rules of procedure in the allocation of resources and financing by political decision makers.”.

Pork-barrelling involving the allocation of taxpayer funding away from outcomes in the public interest to partisan goals or to reward friends is merely a large-scale version of what is widely accepted as illegal if done on an individual basis.

Indeed, there are laws against what is termed electoral bribery: the Commonwealth Electoral Act outlaws asking for, receiving, giving, offering or promising “any property or benefit of any kind” in exchange for a vote, but “a declaration of public policy or a promise of public action” is exempted: bribery is prohibited, but announcing a policy to bribe is not."

Was Shanks right in your opinion for labeling pork barreling corrupt?

And corruption it is: Transparency International defines political corruption as including “manipulation of policies, institutions and rules of procedure in the allocation of resources and financing by political decision makers.”.

Well under that definition everything that the executive does would be corruption. Because under the Westminster System that we inherited from the mother country the executive branch is made up of members of parliament. Many commonwealth countries would be corrupt by this definition.

Also under our system the members of parliament are there to represent THEIR constituency. In fact it is even more restrictive than this- they are there to represent only the wishes of the majority of their constituency. They not there for the whole of the populace of the Nation/State.

And regarding a whole parliament overall, I personally cringe whenever we get a new PM/Premier and in their acceptance speech they say that the new government will govern inclusively for all Australians/the state populace. That's not what they are meant to do. They are there to do what the majority wants them to do, they shouldn't give any consideration to the wishes of a minority of voters that oppose the majority neither should they do what they themselves want to do if what they want opposes the majority.

SR

Little difference between sports rort, free solar panels, and a policy which favours a particular class of the voter with specific benefits which are not supported by an opposition party.

Political corruption is in evidence with the Obeid and McDonald insider trading in coal mine licences.
They stood to make millions in the corrupt deal. Obeid is now back in Jail again, as the system hunts him down. That’s good.

Very fine lines between good business and blatant political corruption is well exampled with Gladys Berejiklian and Daryl Maguire realestate deals in the area of the new airport at Badgerie creek.

And what was the result of a thirty million dollar purchase of land by the commonwealth worth three million in market value, also at the site of the new airport.
All mysteriously quiet now as were swamped with Covid distractions.

Dan

Pork Barrelling by any stretch of the imagination is corruption. Various forms are systemic in the political sphere in Australia, both at the Federal and State levels. Unfortunately the Australian public has become rather cynical about it all, and very much accepting of it. The absolute need for a Federal ICAC is apparent as politicians take advantage of the taxpayer to advance their own political ends. This is not done in any small way it involves hundreds of millions of dollars.

The lowering of standards in politics is now accepted practice. In the days of 'Pig Iron' Bob Menzies, and 'Blackjack' McEwen of the Country Party they were both hard as nails politicians, but they drew the line at certain behaviour within the Coalition. The likes of Barnyard Joy would not be returning as he did, but rather he would be aholed to the far flung reaches of political oblivion. Of course McEwen was able to squeeze many favourable concessions from Menzies for his cow cocky constituency, but it wasn't corruption as it is today.

I've always believed that on the whole our politicians
were honest and went into politics to make a difference
because I assumed that the life was hard for them and their
families. Yes, I know that was naive of me. And as the
various scandals began to surface especially under Jeff
Kennett as State Premier in Victoria where "Jobs for the
boys," was the norm, as were buying apartments and
properties as investments at much cheaper prices.

I guess power does corrupt - and to stay honest becomes
increasingly hard. Today, corrupt pollies are becoming
more and more the norm - and the public takes it in their
stride. I'm sure if there was a commission into corruption
we'd all be amazed at what and who crawled out from under
the shadows where they're hiding - or from out in the open
where some of them can be found. Of course pork
barreling is corrupt - but if everyone does it - who's
going to get caught?

Why do a couple of people here always ask questions, like "Is pork barrelling by politicians corrupt", in this instance, when they have already made up their minds on the subject, particularly when it's done by politicians whose politics they oppose.

Pork barrelling is defined as "the utilization of government funds for projects designed to please voters or legislators and win votes". It is done all the time by all politicians. But some pea brain latches onto a maybe case by the wrong side of politics (according to him), and starts the Lefties rattling their cages.

Pork barrelling is not illegal. It has been common practice for at least a century according to the Australian Law Society Journal; without it, pre-election campaigning would not occur. Candidates couldn't make promises, and nothing would get done. 'Vote for me, and I will do "X" for you' is what we hear at every election; and all the promises cost taxpayer money to fulfill. Politicians don't get voted in for their looks or personality - they have to buy their way in. You can call it pork barrelling, corruption, or whatever you like, but your own side of politics does it too, so get over it