Ahead of last year's state election, Deputy Premier John Barilaro and then-arts minister Don Harwin toured regional NSW, handing out infrastructure grants worth $47 million to arts and cultural organisations.

A team of experts had in 2018 been appointed to assess more than 150 applications for the Regional Cultural Fund grants and ranked the 116 successful projects in the order they should be funded.

Documents obtained by the ABC under freedom of information laws reveal their advice was largely ignored and instead all but $3 million was spent on projects in Coalition seats.

The volunteer-run Bunker Cartoon Gallery in the National Party-held electorate of Coffs Harbour received $2.7 million for a new extension, despite the assessors deeming it unworthy of funding.

The documents reveal Mr Barilaro and Mr Harwin even signed off on cash for at least eight projects that were not recommended for funding.

A total of 56 projects were funded in 23 electorates, of which 20 were held by the Coalition.

The only project funded in a Labor electorate was Gosford Uniting Church's request for $4,000 to "upgrade lighting and a new mixing desk to allow amateur performers to be trained in theatrical performance, production and stage craft".

It was the smallest grant, with many others valued at more than $1 million and as high as $8 million, awarded to a new arts and cultural centre in Bateman's Bay.

Four grants were funded in the battleground seats of Orange, held by the Shooters, Fishers and Farmers party, and Ballina, held by the Greens.

Cessnock Labor MP Clayton Barr believes "this is pork barrelling at its absolute political worst".

"In the lead up to an election we've got the Government using $50 million of taxpayer funds, it's not the Government's money, it doesn't belong to Liberal or National party, it belongs to the community.

"They put a process in place and they simply ignore the rules. It's farcical quite frankly."

Mr Barilaro said: "Critics will always say that. I will always fight for our fair share."

Gallery receives $2.7m despite being deemed 'unworthy'

Of the six-person Regional Cultural Fund assessors who made the recommendations about where the money should be sent, four were independent members from the state's arts sector.

An executive from the State Government agency Create NSW and a representative from the Department of Premier and Cabinet were also on the panel.

They met for three days in late September 2018, then extended their meeting for a fourth day so each of the 116 successful projects — with a total value of $135 million — could be ranked.

The assessors acknowledged only $47 million was available but ranked all the eligible projects so as to allow some ministerial discretion.

Of the 159 applications, seven were deemed ineligible because they did not meet the complex entry criteria.

Another 35 projects were not recommended for funding for reasons including concerns they lacked community support or were not a genuine arts and cultural project.

A road upgrade in Narrabri to improve tourist access to the Deriah Aboriginal heritage and cultural site was considered outside the "cultural infrastructure" brief but received $249,000 anyway.

That grant was one of seven showered on the Barwon electorate which the National Party lost to the Shooters, Fishers and Farmers Party at the election.

The Cessnock Performing Arts Centre sought $118,700 to convert its lighting to a more energy efficient LED system — which the assessors ranked extremely favourably — but the council-owned venue was unsuccessful.

"It was a fairly modest application, LED lighting drives down costs, it's better for our climate and councils are operating on pretty thin budgets," Mr Barr said.

"Anything we can do to reduce the cost of hiring this facility brings the ticket costs down."

Projects 'funded on merit'

In Deputy Premier Barilaro's seat of Monaro, three projects were funded worth $3.54 million.

An arts hub in Queanbeyan ($500,000) and the Jindabyne Community Library ($3 million) were both lowly ranked by the assessors, while the National Trust received cash to build a new toilet at Cooma Cottage, even though that project was "not recommended for funding".

Mr Barilaro said projects "were all funded based on merit and the [grants] are designed where the discretion is left with the Minister".

The documents obtained by the ABC included a collection of letters prepared by Create NSW addressed to MPs, advising them of successful grants in their electorates and inviting them to announce them.

Tamara Smith, the Greens MP for Ballina, said she was not invited to announce the projects in her seat.

"I've seen a draft letter from the relevant department saying that I could announce the arts funding last year," she said.

"But it was not signed, and I've never received that letter, so it was a bit mysterious."

She said while the arts funding was welcomed, the amounts awarded seemed large in comparison to other areas of the state.

"The amount that was pledged in the last election, you can only describe that as pork barrelling," she said.

Nationals Upper House MP Ben Franklin handed over both Ballina grants alongside Mr Harwin.

At the time he was running as a candidate, having resigned from the Legislative Council, to make a tilt for the seat.

"They were grants from a Government program, it was entirely appropriate they be announced by Members of the Government," Mr Franklin said.

"As for the charge of 'pork barrelling', I have never resiled from advocating for the needs of the Northern Rivers and I shall continue to do so."

In Gosford, Labor member Liesl Tesch confirmed to the ABC she never received her letter to announce the Uniting Church funding.

Mr Harwin referred questions to Premier Gladys Berejiklian who assumed the role of Arts Minister when he resigned last month.