Howard implicated in election rort

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PRIME Minister John Howard pledged money to rejuvenate an outback town in the run up to the election just a day after bureaucrats vetoed the plan.

The regional rorts controversy flared again yesterday after revelations Mr Howard made the $50,000 election promise in 2004 despite the project being turned down four times by federal officials, The Daily Telegraph newspaper reported today.

Mr Howard made the promise to the Newman town centre in the former Labor electorate of Kalgoorlie in West Australia on September 17 last year. "It was identified as a community need," Mr Howard's spokesman told the newspaper.

It's the first time the prime minister has been directly associated with questions about regional funding, the newspaper. The issue came under the spotlight on October 6 this year when a majority report from a parliamentary inquiry accused the government of using the Regional partnership program to bolster political support for the election.

http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5744,17088771%255E1702,00.html