Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has made “no apologies” after a golf course in his electorate received a $6 million grant while he held an honorary membership, despite claims from the opposition that he breached the ministerial codes of ethics.
In a fiery exchange on morning television, Albanese rebuked the ABC – which he counselled to “do better” – for allegedly ignoring information provided by the prime minister’s office to assist in their reporting on the provision of a $560 million Commonwealth grants program.
“The ABC were told information they chose not to publish appropriately … [the Marrickville Golf Club is] on a flood area by the Cooks River. When it rains and there’s flooding, raw sewage goes into the Cooks River. That’s what it’s for, for fixing that,” Albanese told ABC TV on Wednesday morning.
“I make no apologies for my electorate being serviced by me as a good local member,” he said, while claiming he had no prior knowledge of his honorary membership of the club in question.
“I don’t play golf. I’m a tennis player rather than a golf player, and like a lot of organisations in my seat, a lot of clubs, local community-based things, they say: ‘Oh, we’ll give the local member honorary membership,’” Albanese said.
“Apparently, that happened 15 years ago or something. I haven’t been into the clubhouse for many, many years … I make no apologies for the fact that this was fixed … the ABC should do better.”
The Major and Local Community Infrastructure Program was an invitation-only scheme established before the 2025 election to fund projects including upgrades to sporting facilities, parks, playgrounds and swimming pools.
An analysis released by the Centre for Public Integrity found $409.1 million, or 73.2 per cent of the program’s funding, went to safe Labor seats and marginal electorates. Coalition-held seats received $126.3 million, or 22.6 per cent.
This masthead revealed on Tuesday that the Australian National Audit Office will consider probing that grants program, as well as a $170 million Albanese government program supporting multicultural communities, where about 85 per cent of funding went to government-held seats.
On Wednesday morning, deputy Nationals leader Bridget McKenzie – who in 2020 resigned from her ministerial position in the former Coalition government over a sports rorts scandal – accused Albanese of breaching ministerial ethics.
“When you see trust eroding across the public in parliament, in parliamentarians, in the political class, it’s beholden on all of us to actually uphold the system that we’re a part of,” McKenzie told ABC radio.
“I’ve got the code of conduct for ministers that the prime minister himself has signed the forward for, talking about high ethical standards for his ministers and his government … it goes directly to conflicts of interest.”
Assistant Science Minister Andrew Charlton on Wednesday morning defended Albanese’s membership of the club, saying: “I’ve seen that reporting, and some of that reporting suggests that there was something that needed to be declared, but wasn’t, and that isn’t true.
“Under the declaration guidelines, it’s presumed that local community or charitable organisations don’t create a conflict of interest, and that’s because, as a local MP, thinking about myself, you’re a member of a lot of local organisations, sporting organisations, charitable organisations, clubs, etc.”
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Nick Newling is a federal politics reporter for The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age.Connect via X or email.From our partners
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