Blundell said
the department had so far given the Australian Rugby League Commission $66.6 million of its funding package.
She said $250 million was being used specifically for the new NRL team, the PNG Chiefs, while the rest would be spent on grassroots development.
About 50 per cent of the remaining $350 million would be spent on grassroots in Papua New Guinea, and the rest is supposed to be spent across Samoa, Fiji and Tonga.
A NSW Liberal senator has questioned the allocation of $600 million to rugby league as a $150 million proposal for a rival code is finalised.
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