In a stunning backflip just ahead of the expected May federal election, Treasurer Josh Frydenberg has dropped controversial $65 million plans for four car parks in his at-risk inner city Melbourne electorate.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
or signup to continue reading
The four car parks in Kooyong were among 47 promised under the Morrison government's $660 million commuter car park fund which a scathing Auditor-General report found had no criteria for judging merit.
The high-profile program, which was described by federal Labor as "sports rorts on an industrial scale", was used by the Coalition to "get more cars off our roads" and woo voters during the 2019 federal election campaign.
More than three-quarters of commuter car park sites were in Coalition-held seats, with 64 per cent located in Melbourne - two-and-a-half times the number in Sydney.
The office of then-urban infrastructure minister Alan Tudge kept a "top 20 marginals" tracking sheet the Auditor-General found guided the high-profile program.
After a "significant" constituent backlash and under pressure from independent candidate for Kooyong Monique Ryan, Mr Frydenberg on Thursday declared the proposed car parks at Canterbury, Glenferrie and Camberwell would not go ahead.
He also said the commuter car park at Surrey Hills "cannot go ahead as proposed" because the Victorian government had merged Surrey Hills and Mont Albert stations in 2019.