The 7.30 report said Dutton's department strongly recommended the projects to improve community safety. Still, he used the funds to support his own 'handpicked' projects that his department' did not recommend.

The initial Armidale Regional Council grant application was for $945, 687 but this was more than halved, and only $450,000 was approved by Mr Dutton.

The reduced amount was announced in March 2019 and used to install additional solar lighting on the Armidale cycleway, to improve community safety along the route and in the city's central business district, It was finally installed in December 2020.

Read also:

The local Labor candidate said the project was 'very important' to the community.

"I am appalled that community safety of small regional councils can be jeopardised by the Federal Government by pork-barreling for their own political ambitions," she said.

"The delays caused by halving the budget cost the council and caused great community concern.

"I think [the matter] must be investigated further.

"Local regional councils can barely keep their heads above water with all the cost-shifting from the State let alone the Federal Government stealing from our grants.

"We only received half the grant, so we had to do a redesign and rescope which caused delays. Dutton commandeered from ours and other grants by redirecting the other half to a personal unqualified project of his own choosing."

Another Northern Tablelands council also had its application funding trimmed. Inverell Shire Council had its CCTV and Safety project budget cut by more than $100,000 from $335,536 to $200,000.

Mr Dutton reduced the funding for 19 of the highest-scoring Safer Communities Fund applications and redirected the funding to projects of his choice the report said.