NSW Labor is pushing for more transparency around the distribution of government grants amid accusations the government has engaged in pork barrelling.
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Premier Dominic Perrottet says he won't support the opposition bill, dismissing it as a "stunt".
The Labor private members' bill would require ministers to spell out in writing their reasons for departing from bureaucrats' recommendations about how grant funds should be handed out.
The bill stipulates a minister wouldn't be able to issue a grant before they were given relevant information from their department.
It would also give the auditor-general stronger powers to monitor whether the government is adhering to guidelines that say how grants should be administered.
If the bill passed, those guidelines would be elevated to laws that the government must adhere to.
Opposition Leader Chris Minns said the bill, introduced to parliament this week, would draw a line in the sand on pork barrelling.
"It is time to end the rorts and deliver a fairer outcome for the people of NSW," Mr Minns said in a statement on Thursday.
The opposition is willing to work with the government to reform the grants process, but Mr Minns said if the premier doesn't come to the table the people of NSW should demand an explanation.
During parliamentary question time NSW Treasurer Matt Kean said "the premier has committed to undertaking a review of our grants framework".
He looked forward to seeing the recommendations "to provide the community with the confidence they need to ensure that public money is spent appropriately and done through a public process".
The government has faced a series of accusations of pork barrelling, including most recently a $20 million pilot program to boost renewable energy in schools.
Some 23 of the 25 schools funded under the pilot were in coalition seats.
During her recent appearance before the ICAC, former premier Gladys Berejiklian was grilled about a $5.5 million grant awarded to the Australian Clay Target Association in the Wagga Wagga electorate of her then secret boyfriend Daryl Maguire.
Soon after becoming premier, Mr Perrottet moved to quell a backlash about the practice by ordering a review into how grants are issued in NSW
He's asked the Department of Premier and Cabinet and the Productivity Commissioner to look into whether the NSW grants program achieves value for public money, has robust planning and design and adopts key principles of transparency, accountability and probity.
Mr Perrottet told reporters the review was "a very good thing to do" and he would not support Labor's legislation.
"Labor are very good at stunts but not very good at delivery".
Introducing the bill into the NSW upper house this week, Labor MP John Graham said the rules were not just the standard they wanted to hold the government to, but the standard they'd hold themselves to in government.
"We do not accept a culture where ministers feel they have grant-giving powers like a god," he said.
Australian Associated Press
