Labor pledged $5m for soccer precinct before it was planned or costed

Mark Butler's office encouraged a local council to submit a $6m soccer precinct proposal. (ABC News: Matt Roberts)

Labor approached an Adelaide local council to submit a multi-million-dollar sports club upgrade proposal before the project had been formally costed, scoped or designed.

Documents reveal how the $5 million election promise in Health Minister Mark Butler's electorate developed at his office's urging.

The Coalition has said the funding did not follow a "proper process", but Mr Butler said the grant followed Commonwealth rules. 

Federal Labor asked an Adelaide council to put forward a multi-million-dollar sports precinct upgrade for federal funding before any detailed costings or formal planning had been done. 

Documents released under Freedom of Information reveal Health Minister Mark Butler's office urged the City of Charles Sturt council to submit a proposal with a total price tag of "around $6m", with Labor then pledging $5 million for the project in the lead-up to the 2025 election.

The proposal to redevelop Jubilee Reserve in Mr Butler's electorate as a permanent home for the Adelaide Jaguars women's soccer club was awarded the funds under an invite-only grant scheme, which has been scrutinised for its focus on Labor-held or targeted seats.

The council had originally requested $1.2 million for lighting and development of a master plan for the reserve, but told the ABC the federal government had subsequently "approached" to seek support for the broader Jaguars proposal.

The funding was for the council as the owner of the sporting precinct and did not go to the soccer club directly.

The Coalition has criticised the process and argued developing an overall cost first and "manufacturing" the detail later was not "due diligence".

Mr Butler defended investing in a "terrific" women's soccer club and said the grant was both "consistent with past practice" and delivered in line with Commonwealth rules.

The Albanese government is facing questions about how it nominated projects during the 2025 election campaign for funding under a $560 million grant scheme, with a Senate inquiry to examine what role ministers and MPs may have had.

The FOI documents obtained by the ABC reveal earlier City of Charles Sturt council discussions about a possible Jaguars move to the reserve had stalled as the soccer club's wish list was considered too ambitious.

One council official described the Jaguars' proposal as "gobsmacking" and warned of "exclusive access" issues, saying it looked "more like a takeover" of the space by the club.

Mark Butler poses with kids from the soccer club celebrating the funding.  (Facebook: Adelaide Jaguars)

Mayor Angela Evans was later contacted by Jaguars chair Bronny Brooks, revealing she had been "urged by Mark Butler's office to seek your support and facilitation of the process" to access federal funds for the upgrade.

"I have been given a very short turnaround time to present the project for their consideration," Ms Brooks said in an email from October 2024.

City of Charles Sturt chief executive Paul Sutton told the ABC that Labor then asked if the council would "consider an in-principle contribution" for the larger project.

"We agreed to explore the opportunity, subject to future council decisions and community consultation," he said.

Documents show Mr Butler's electorate office staffer emailed Ms Evans in January 2025 asking for a letter confirming the plan and including an approximate cost "which, as we discussed, would be around $6m, with council to provide an amount towards that".

Then in a February email, the staffer described the project as at a "make-or-break point" as he sought a "more rigorous" breakdown of the "$6m costing" and a timeline, suggesting the council base the estimates on past projects.

That same day the council produced a costing for the redevelopment that totalled exactly $6m.

Labor has defended the grant, saying it was a win for girls' sport. (ABC News: Michael Rennie)

The final proposal closely reflected the Jaguars' wish list, including a dedicated senior pitch, fencing, four change rooms and additional playing fields.

Mr Sutton, the council's CEO, said the $6 million figure reflected an "early indicative estimate associated with that broader proposal," noting further "planning, design and costing work would be required to confirm scope, feasibility and cost".

"The federal government then made a $5 million election commitment," he said.

Mr Sutton said the council then agreed to "further investigate the broader opportunity through community engagement and design phase before determining whether to proceed with a grant funding application".

The project was ultimately announced as a $6.5m package, including potentially $1.5m in council funding.

A formal master planning and consultation process was not scheduled to begin until July last year, months after the election commitment.

Shadow Sport Minister and South Australian Liberal Senator Anne Ruston said Australians would be "rightly appalled" if government ministers were "coming up with numbers first and then manufacturing justifications afterwards".

"This is the opposite of the accountability and transparency Australians deserve," she said.

"That's not proper process, it's a press release looking for a business case."

Senator Ruston said it was not "due diligence" to set the dollar figure in January and "look for a costing to match it in February".

Senator Ruston said Mr Butler could not avoid "accountability" for the process behind the grant in his electorate and involving correspondence from his staff.

Last week, the ABC revealed a Centre for Public Integrity investigation of a $560 million grant program used to deliver Labor's election promises was overwhelmingly directed to seats either held or targeted by the party.

The invite-only Major and Local Community Infrastructure program was defended by the government as an appropriate way to ensure election commitments remained value for money.

But Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has been criticised for not declaring an honorary membership to the Marrickville Golf Club in his electorate, which was promised $6m at the election under the program.

Mr Albanese said he was not aware of the membership — valued at $5 for two years — and he has subsequently relinquished it.

Mr Butler said his office had "multiple discussions" with the City of Charles Sturt Council about what a redevelopment of Jubilee Reserve would look like and what federal funding would be needed to deliver the project.

"The election commitment is consistent with past practice and is delivered in line with Commonwealth Grants Rules and Practices."

Mr Butler said he was "proud" to invest in helping women overcome barriers to participating in sport, adding the Jaguars had campaigned for "years" to have their own facilities.

"This terrific club deserved its own home," he said.

Last year, when the funding was announced, the Adelaide Jaguars Women's Soccer Club said the commitment would give women and girls the chance to play the game they love at any level.

In a statement shared on Facebook, the club revealed it had already had to turn up to 100 players away in 2024 due to "capacity" constraints.