Anthony Albanese has told the ABC to “do better” after the public broadcaster reported he held an undeclared honorary membership at the only golf club invited to seek funding under a $560 million infrastructure program.
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Marrickville Golf Club, which sits in the middle of the Prime Minister’s Sydney electorate of Grayndler, was promised $6.05 million during the 2025 election campaign.
The money came through Labor’s invitation-only Major and Local Community Infrastructure program, established to deliver election commitments.
Mr Albanese denied knowing he remained an honorary member and launched a scathing defence during an appearance on ABC News Breakfast on Wednesday.
“Apparently that happened 15 years ago or something. I haven’t been into the clubhouse for many, many years. The ABC chose to do this. That is up to them,” Mr Albanese said.
“The ABC should do better.
“The ABC were told information they chose not to publish appropriately.
“I don’t have a membership. I don’t have a card, I don’t go in there, I haven’t been in there for years. I don’t play golf. I’m a tennis player.
“I make no apologies for my electorate being serviced by me as a good local member. These three grants are all appropriate.”
The club told the ABC it still had Mr Albanese “on the books as an honorary member”, although the status dated back many years and had not been reaffirmed.
Mr Albanese later told parliament he had been advised the membership was granted in 2012.
The parliamentary register requires MPs to disclose memberships where a conflict of interest could foreseeable arise. Local sporting and community memberships would not ordinarily need to be declared, but Mr Albanese has previously listed other honorary memberships, including one with Royal Sydney Golf Club.
The golf club approached Mr Albanese’s electorate office after an electoral redistribution returned it to Grayndler. According to the club, staff indicated money was available and invited it to present possible projects.
The government has not publicly explained how the complete invitation list was assembled.
The funding is intended for a wider renovation of the council-owned facility, including repairs to its sewerage and stormwater systems, new outdoor dining areas, an accessibility ramp and landscaping.
The ABC included those details in its original report.
Mr Albanese said the ageing septic system could allow raw sewage to enter the nearby Cooks River during floods.
He doubled down on the matter during a later press conference near Newcastle, stressing that “it was an election commitment, an election commitment that we’re delivering, because we’re a good government.
“I make no apologies,” he said.
“The ABC have been told this, they’ve chosen not to report it in the way in which the facts are there.”
Infrastructure Minister Catherine King said she was the program’s decision-maker and therefore Mr Albanese’s membership was not relevant to her approval.
The program included 220 projects, but an analysis by the Centre for Public Integrity found the money heavily favoured safe Labor electorates and marginal seats the party hoped to win. The government says projects remain subject to grant guidelines and value-for-money assessments.
Shadow infrastructure minister Bridget McKenzie, who resigned from cabinet during the Morrison government’s “sports rorts” scandal, seized on the comparison.
“I had an honorary membership that I didn’t know I had from a gun club that I decided under the guidelines to award funding to so women and disabled members could actually go to the toilet on site, a $36,000 grant,” she said.
“I resigned my ministerial portfolio because of a perceived conflict of interest.
“So I have been very surprised by the story today.”
The Prime Minister has been particularly on the front foot against the press recently. The ABC clash came one week after Mr Albanese accused 7NEWS political reporter Josh Martin of being “disrespectful” to Pacific leaders at a press conference in Palau.
Martin had questioned whether taxpayers were receiving value from more than $20 million being spent on pre-COP climate events in Fiji and Tuvalu, given the limited number of non-Pacific leaders then confirmed to attend.
“That’s not true. With respect, you are being so disrespectful to the Pacific leaders who are here,” Mr Albanese said.
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