PM Concedes $6m Golf Grant Does Not Cover Sewerage Works

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese conceded on Tuesday that a $6m federal grant to Marrickville Golf Club does not fund sewerage works, correcting statements he made in parliament about the project's purpose.

The grant sits within a $560m invitation-only program that transparency advocates say largely funded projects promised during the 2025 election in Labor-held seats. Infrastructure department officials told a Senate estimates hearing on Monday afternoon that the grant did not finance work to prevent sewage from reaching the nearby river. "I can confirm that sewerage is not a component of this grant," Jacinta McDonald, the department's assistant secretary, said.

Albanese told the house in early September that the money would go toward "an environmental project stopping raw sewage going into the Cooks River during flooding." He repeated the claim in later responses, saying the club's septic tank on the floodplain caused sewage to reach the river when Marrickville floods. "[The golf club] has existed for a long time, almost a 100 years, and they have a septic tank because it is on the floodplain, when it floods in Marrickville raw sewage flows into the Cooks River - that is what the funding is for," Albanese said.

Opposition MPs questioned the prime minister about the grant during question time on Tuesday. Dan Tehan, the shadow energy minister, accused Albanese of misleading parliament and asked him to correct the record. Albanese replied that "it was not correct" to describe the funding as sewerage work and said the matter rests with the infrastructure department. He said the council is finalising a design that includes clubhouse improvements, stormwater harvesting, a new toilet and landscaping. The club is owned by the council, and its last major remodel was in 1947, he said.

Assistant education minister Anthony Chisholm said the sewerage component had been part of the original proposal but the scope changed. He said the New South Wales government stepped in to support that work, adding that the state handles water and sewerage. Albanese said the state committed in September 2025 to address sewerage infrastructure at the club. The prime minister holds honorary social membership at Marrickville Golf Club and has rejected suggestions he influenced or benefited from the decision, which another minister signed off. The grant was first reported by the ABC. The infrastructure department declined to confirm the sewerage component at Monday's hearing.

The council is finalising the design of the project, which includes improvements to the clubhouse, stormwater harvesting, a new toilet and landscaping. Albanese said the New South Wales government committed in September 2025 to address sewerage infrastructure at the club.