The Public Accountability Committee, chaired by Greens MLC David Shoebridge, handed down its report on Tuesday on the integrity, efficacy and value for money of NSW government grant programs.

The committee held hearings last month in which Mr Shoebridge and Labor MLC John Graham questioned public servants and Deputy Premier John Barilaro over $30 million for Wagga's Conservatorium of Music and $48 million for bushfire recovery in Snowy Valleys.

The inquiry's first report on Tuesday did not touch on those issues but gave a view that the $252 million Stronger Communities Fund was "brazenly partisan" in favouring Coalition and marginal seats and represented a "maladministration of funds".

"In particular, grants to Snowy Valleys Council in the electorate of Wagga are particularly concerning as the grants were announced by [NSW] Premier [Gladys Berejiklian] just weeks prior to a byelection for the seat of Wagga in August 2018, but not executed for another six months," the report stated.

"This committee was not given a satisfactory explanation of why this was the case."

The committee's three Coalition members, Nationals MLC Trevor Khan and Liberal MLCs Matthew Mason-Cox and Natalie Ward, included a dissenting statement that accused the report of omitting crucial details about the community grants.

"The report fails to acknowledge that the Stronger Communities Fund has provided more than $468 million to local councils to kickstart delivery of much-needed infrastructure for their local communities," the statement said.

"It is important to acknowledge in this inquiry the evidence that regional communities are not homogenous and require different kinds of support from government.

"Some regional areas in particular have suffered from historic underinvestment, and the Regional Growth Fund is central in rectifying this inequality."

In other news

The 2018 Wagga byelection was triggered by former Liberal MP Daryl Maguire quitting Parliament after weeks of pressure stemming from his first appearance at the Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC).

Independent Joe McGirr won the byelection, ending the Liberal Party's 60-year hold on the Wagga electorate.

A separate ICAC inquiry in 2020 revealed that Mr Maguire and Ms Berejiklian were in a secret relationship at the time of the byelection, leading to the Public Accountability Committee taking a renewed interest in grant decisions affecting Wagga.

"The committee also received evidence regarding a number of grants made to Snowy Valleys Council for various projects in the town of Adelong worth a total of $225,000," the grants inquiry report stated.

"This was raised as the council is in the electorate of Wagga and the funding announcement was made a few weeks prior to the 2018 Wagga byelection.

"According to a media release tabled to the committee, the funding was announced by the Premier on 17 August 2018. However the funding agreement was not executed until 5 February 2019."

The report references testimony by former NSW Auditor-General Tony Harris, who gave the view that the Premier must have approved the expenditure before making the statement and executing the agreement.

The inquiry's report has been handed to the government for a response.

Dr McGirr has been invited to appear at the inquiry's next round of hearings due to start in late April.

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