QUESTIONS were raised at this week's general council meeting over whether or not Regional Development Australia Funding (RDAF) dollars were dished out fairly after the Southern Downs missed out completely.

The issue was sparked when it was noticed no communities west of the Great Dividing Range received approval for their grant applications - with councillors pondering whether or not politics could be at play.

Mayor Ron Bellingham said he hoped it was not based on politics but there were concerns.

"Once you look through this, one thing that struck me is that New England seems to have done remarkably well, yet all of these allocations are not done on a political basis," Cr Bellingham said.

New England is independent member Tony Windsor's seat and the seat of Denison in Tasmania - held by independent Andrew Wilkie - received two lots of funding.

Cr Bellingham said he would speak to other mayors in the region to find out what they thought.

"Through the mayors group there may be an opportunity to perhaps have a bit more of a dialogue from a greater regional point of view," Cr Bellingham said.

He said he loved the idea of the RDAF scheme but feared it had become political.

"But I have become a little more cynical," he said.

"We are talking here projects of millions and millions of dollars."

Questions were raised over how Geelong Football Club could receive $10 million while organisations such as Carramar - an aged persons' home in Stanthorpe - went without.

"It does seem to be somewhat unfair, but time will tell," Cr Bellingham said.

Other applications that were successful included the West Australian Shire of Roebourne, which got $15 million for a new $65 million Karratha Leisure Complex; $10 million to the City of Greater Geelong to construct a new $45 million Geelong Library and Heritage Centre (in addition to the $10 million for the Geelong Football Club) and $3.5 million to Ballina Shire Council for the $4 million upgrade and extension of the Ballina Byron Gateway Airport.

A spokesman for Regional Australia Minister Simon Crean said applications approved between Labor and LNP seats were on par, even if dollar amounts weren't.

"Of the 35 projects backed in round one of the five-year RDAF program - 16 are in Labor seats, 16 are in either Liberal or National seats; and three are in Independent seats," he said.

"The minister received advice from the independent panel on suitable projects, to the value of $561 million, and the minister made decisions based on projects with the broadest regional benefits."

He said organisations would be advised of why their applications were unsuccessful.

"Each applicant will have the opportunity to seek direct feedback from the department," he said.

"This was only round one; there will be a second round opening in November, and subject to the passage of the Mineral Resource Rent Tax, three more rounds."

All applications were required to meet mandatory criteria, with eligible applications assessed by an independent advisory panel.

Communities needed to demonstrate a direct and measurable benefit to communities through documents including business cases, a cost-benefit analysis, feasibility studies and detailed project plans.