Pauline Hanson has accused the Albanese Government of directing multicultural grants towards Labor-held electorates, claiming almost 90 per cent of funding awarded since the 2022 election went to seats represented by Labor MPs.
The One Nation leader has called for the publication of assessments, ministerial briefs and funding decisions, arguing taxpayers should be able to see how the money was allocated.
Her claims are based on One Nation’s analysis of federal GrantConnect data covering multicultural grants administered by the Department of Home Affairs.
The analysis puts total funding distributed across four years at $385.94 million, of which $340.35 million — 88.2 per cent — went to Labor-held electorates.
It also found that the value of multicultural grant funding rose from $5.87 million in 2022-23 to $325.77 million in 2025-26. Labor-held electorates received 94 per cent of the funding awarded in 2025-26, the analysis claimed.
Hanson said 87.1 per cent of grants awarded during that financial year had been distributed through closed, non-competitive processes.
“The figures are truly staggering,” she said.
“The value of new multicultural grant awards jumped from less than $6million in 2022-23 to more than $325million in 2025-26, roughly a 55-fold increase.”
Labor electorates among biggest grant recipients
According to the One Nation analysis, the electorates containing the highest-value grant recipients were all held by Labor.
Macnamara in Melbourne topped the list with $55.06 million, followed by Watson, the electorate of Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke, with $46.05 million. Melbourne received $27.86 million and Parramatta in Sydney’s west received $25.73 million.
Together, the four electorates accounted for more than $154 million in multicultural grant funding, according to the analysis.
Hanson criticised Mr Burke’s electorate being among the largest beneficiaries and raised concerns about funding provided to the Australian National Imams Council, which is based there.
One Nation also categorised the grants by religious affiliation, claiming Muslim organisations received $86.7 million, Jewish groups $77.5 million and Christian groups $71 million.
The Jewish funding figure included about $33 million linked to Melbourne’s Adass Israel Synagogue and Community Centre after it was firebombed in 2024. The money included rebuilding and security support.
Hanson said that funding was justified, but argued it did not account for the wider distribution of grants.
“The rebuilding of the Adass Synagogue after an Iranian-sponsored terrorist firebombing is an exception that clearly deserves support. But one justified grant doesn’t explain potential rorts in the rest of the program,” she said.
Hanson said grants should be allocated according to community need rather than political considerations.
“Taxpayer money must be allocated on transparent criteria based on community need, not funnelled to buy votes,” she said.
“Anthony Albanese promised to do politics differently. What his government is doing just looks like the same old corruption.”
A spokeswoman for Multicultural Affairs Minister Anne Aly said the figures included election commitments, security measures and community infrastructure programmes intended to strengthen social cohesion.
“The Albanese government proudly invests in communities right across Australia, including through urgent care clinics, roads, early childhood education centres and community facilities and festivals,” the spokeswoman said.
“We make no apologies for investing in local communities and, if other political parties don’t want to back Australians, that’s up to them.
“We’re focused on building strong… communities.”
