The inquiry was set up last year following allegations by Independent Member for Tamworth Tony Windsor that the government agreed to provide $6 million for an equine centre at Tamworth on the condition Mr Windsor stepped aside from the centre's board.

The allegation was made with the claim Mr Windsor was offered a diplomatic post to step aside from his seat.

Both were rejected by Deputy Prime Minister John Anderson.

Nonetheless it received widespread coverage reminiscent of Ros Kelly and her whiteboard.

Ten years ago Mrs Kelly was Sports Minister in Paul Keating's Labor Government. It became known as 'Sports Rorts' when it was revealed the minister used her whiteboard to dole out thousands of dollars in grants, many of them to Labor electorates.

The opposition seized on the so-called rorts and Keating dismissed the attacks.

A decade later, the attempt to bring accountability to grants schemes suggests little has changed.

This time it will be Labor pointing the finger. And with the ALP members taking up half the places on the three Senate inquiry team, an adverse finding is almost assured.

Platitudes such as "needs basis", "selection criteria" and "strict guidelines" will be thrown around but will it change anything?

Probably not until an independent process for funding allocations is introduced. That, however, is unlikely, as governments are reluctant to release the purse strings.