Intervention by the then deputy premier, John Barilaro, in the first bushfire grants program in 2020 excluded the Blue Mountains and all other Labor electorates from any grants, the NSW Auditor-General has found.
The report on the grants process, published today, said 26 of the first-round grants went to Coalition electorates and one to an area held by an independent.
Auditor Margaret Crawford said Mr Barilaro's late decision to eliminate any project under $1 million wiped out any hope for projects in ALP-held areas.
"At the request of the Deputy Premier's office, a $1 million threshold was applied, below which projects were not approved for funding. This threshold was applied without a documented reason and was not part of the program guidelines," the Auditor wrote.
Further, she said: "The Department of Regional NSW did not effectively administer the fast-tracked stream [round one] of the Bushfire Local Economic Recovery program. The administration process lacked integrity, given it did not have sufficiently detailed guidelines, and the assessment process for projects lacked transparency and consistency."
Blue Mountains mayor, Mark Greenhill, said the report had confirmed what he and MPs Trish Doyle and Susan Templeman said at the time.
"In the first round of bushfire grant funds the rules were changed in the office of the then Deputy Premier to exclude the Blue Mountains community and other non-coalition areas.
"Our bushfire experience in Black Summer was denigrated by a Liberal-National government so debased it was prepared to politicise bushfires."
Ms Doyle said: "Revelations that have come to light today that John Barilaro and his staff interfered in the legitimate claims by Labor-held electorates for bushfire recovery funds should enrage every fair-minded member of the Blue Mountains community.
"There should have been no greater moment of co-operation, solidarity and care amongst citizens of this state than when so much of us stood to lose everything during and in the aftermath of the Black Summer bushfires. Instead, the opportunity to rip off communities in crisis was seized by cynical political operators to punish people for their voting habits."