Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has unleashed on the ABC during a TV interview, telling the national broadcaster to ‘do better’, after he was asked about his government granting a $6million grant to the PM’s own golf club.
About 15 years ago, the Prime Minister was given an honorary membership at Marrickville Golf Club in his Sydney electorate.
It was the only golf club to receive a grant through an invitation-only federal grant scheme.
ABC News reported on Wednesday that Albanese’s register of interests dating back to 1996 does not disclose any membership of the club. But, when questioned by ABC News Breakfast hosts James Glenday and Emma Rebellato on Wednesday, he accused the broadcaster of not giving the full context.
’15 years ago, someone decided to say, ‘We’ll make him an honorary member’. I don’t have a card. I don’t go in there. I haven’t been in there for years,’ he said.
‘I used to walk my dog along the path, as lots of people do, because it’s a community club. The ABC were told this.’
As Glenday suggested they would ‘move on’ from the discussion, Albanese doubled down on his criticism and said: ‘The ABC should do better.’
‘Thank you for that feedback, Prime Minister. We appreciate all the feedback that we get,’ Glenday said, before changing the topic of the interview to negotiations between Australia and the Solomon Islands for a joint treaty.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has unleashed on the ABC, telling the national broadcaster to ‘do better’
‘Have you reached a nearly $1billion deal to try to shore up the fragile relationship with the country’s Prime Minister?’ he said.
But Albanese said: ‘You know what I do when I negotiate with a country, I negotiate with them and their leaders and not on the ABC, with respect.’
Undeterred, Glenday said ‘fair enough’ before asking if reporting on the negotiations was ‘wrong’, adding: ‘Is that something else that you would like to correct about the ABC?’
Albanese said: ‘No, we’re in discussions. The ABC should stand up for the national interests, that’s what I do.
‘And for the national interest, I’ll engage on behalf of Australia to make sure that we defend our interests and I’ll continue to do so.’
The firestorm over a local golf club was sparked after accusations of pork barrelling by the Albanese government in a half-billion-dollar, invitation-only scheme that disproportionately funded local infrastructure in Labor seats.
Labor-held electorates pocketed almost three-quarters of the $560million allocated under the Major and Local Community Infrastructure Program.
Marginal electorates or seats where Labor was competitive received $66.5million more than what they would proportionally receive, the Centre for Public Integrity found.
ABC News Breakfast hosts James Glenday questioned the Prime Minister about an honorary membership at Marrickville Golf Club in his Sydney electorate, which has just received a $6million grant through an invite-only federal scheme
Centre chair and ex-judge Anthony Whealy said $493million went to seats where Labor was competitive, compared to $66 million where it was not.
‘These figures ring alarm bells,’ he said.
‘When approximately three-quarters of a $560million community grants program goes to the government’s own electorates, serious questions have to be asked.
‘The problem is that the process makes it impossible for the public to have confidence that merit, rather than political advantage, determined who got access to the money.’
Among the grants handed out was $6million for Marrickville Golf Club. Another $16million was splashed on a swimming pool in Bega, in the must-win bellwether seat of Eden-Monaro, held by Labor frontbencher Kristy McBain.
Under the scheme, entities could only apply for funding after receiving an email invitation in an opportunity classed as ‘closed non-competitive’, according to the program guidelines.
That means grants were assessed against the program’s bespoke selection criteria rather than against the merits of rival applicants.
Those criteria included the projects’ social and economic benefits, their viability and sustainability and the capacity of the applying entities to carry them out.
Independent MP Helen Haines criticised the scheme as ‘pork barrelling by design’. In a previous interview with the ABC, she noted that a club in her seat, Rutherglen Golf Club, was not granted an invitation to the scheme, despite having issues including asbestos-riddled walls.
Labor-held electorates pocketed almost three-quarters of the $560million allocated under the Major and Local Community Infrastructure Program, including Marrickville Golf Course
In opposition, Labor heavily criticised the coalition government’s community sport infrastructure scheme, which party representatives said unfairly favoured coalition-held seats.
That controversy, which became known as ‘sports rorts’, led to then-sports minister Bridget McKenzie resigning from cabinet after she failed to disclose membership of a gun club that received funding.
On Tuesday, McKenzie told ABC’s Radio National Breakfast she was ‘very surprised’ by reports that Albanese had not declared his honourary membership.
‘You need to declare that so when it receives funding, as this golf club in Marrickville did, the public is very clear… that you’ve taken steps to deal with that potential and perceived or actual conflict of interest in the awarding of funding,’ she said.
Greens senator Steph Hodgins-May called on Albanese to justify the funding choices before an ongoing parliamentary inquiry into the conduct of the 2025 election.
‘He needs to personally explain why $6million went to the Marrickville golf course in his electorate. This simply does not pass the pub test,’ she said.
‘We see Labor rightly, when in opposition, condemning Scott Morrison’s government for the sports rorts, but now that they’re in government, apparently there is a new set of rules.’
Later on Wednesday morning, when asked again about the golf club grant, Albanese said it was for the council that owns the club to update its septic tank.
‘It’s on a flooded area on the banks of the Cooks River. And when it rains, raw sewage goes into the river,’ he said.
‘That’s been something that’s been identified as an issue for a long period of time.’
