The NSW government has been accused of flying its own backbenchers into regional electorates held by the opposition or crossbenchers to make decisions on grants and then announce them, sidelining local MPs.
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The latest grants controversy centres on the Stronger Country Communities Fund, which has provided more than $400 million in grants to about 1500 local projects in regional NSW since 2017.
Documents released under parliamentary order reveal that in 2019, when round three of the program was being decided, each eligible non-government-held seat was allocated by the office of then Deputy Premier John Barilaro to a government MP for "assessment".
A few months later, each of those seats was allocated a government MP to announce the successful projects.
Opposition Leader Chris Minns has denounced the process, alongside MPs from the Shooters, Fishers and Farmers, Animal Justice, One Nation and Greens parties, plus an independent.
Flanked by crossbenchers, Mr Minns on Wednesday called it a "huge escalation (in) the way pork barrelling has been done in NSW over the last ten years".
He said the "exceptional situation" involved "random" backbenchers or parliamentary secretaries flying in, deciding a seat's needs and how grants will be distributed, then flying straight out again.
"It should be the local democratically elected member of parliament, not some random National party backbencher (who decides)," Mr Minns said.
According to Labor, 83.5 per cent of funding under the scheme has gone to government seats, with only 16.5 per cent left for the rest.
Helen Dalton, the member for Murray, told AAP she wants to have a say in what projects in her electorate are funded.
"I find it almost humiliating and degrading when you're cut out of even having a say of where the money goes," the Shooters, Fishers and Farmers Party MP said.
Assessment of projects in Ms Dalton's regional electorate was allocated to Nationals MP Stephanie Cooke, who represents a neighbouring seat.
"I'm the member and I've lived in the electorate forever and I think that I know more about the electorate than Steph Cooke does," Ms Dalton said.
Ms Dalton said it's also humiliating to be cut out of announcement or opening ceremonies.
"(You're) not even invited, and if you are invited, you stand over there and you've got no participation in the ceremony," she said.
"It's all about spending our money and then taking the credit for it. It's all about pork barrelling."
Ms Dalton believes her electorate - the second biggest in the state - was neglected until she won it off the Nationals in 2019.
"Now the whole thing's tipped on its head" as the government looks to win it back, she said.
She's concerned that the government will use round four of the fund to pork barrel ahead of the 2023 state election.
"They've got a fourth round coming and they're saving that up for the 12 months leading up to the next election where they're going to be pork barrelling every non-government seat," claimed Greens MP David Shoebridge on Wednesday.
The controversy comes ahead of an upper house debate on Thursday over a Labor bill that would create stricter guidelines for how the government hands out grants.
AAP has approached Premier Dominic Perrottet for comment.
The premier dismissed concerns in question time on Wednesday, arguing his government had made record investment across the state.
Australian Associated Press
