The federal government is fending off accusations of hypocrisy following the revelation its Major and Local Community Infrastructure Program is little more than a half-billion-dollar pork-barrelling exercise. The audacity of an invitation-only scheme designed to funnel taxpayer money predominantly into Labor-held and swing electorates is stark. It easily rivals, and arguably surpasses, the infamous sports rorts saga of the previous Coalition government.

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While the former administration faced intense and justified scrutiny for its partisan grant allocations, this latest infrastructure scheme introduces a new level of brazen exclusion. Electorates without a competitive Labor presence were simply frozen out of the process altogether. As independent Member for Indi Helen Haines noted, the difference between sports rorts and this Labor rort is a matter of design versus deception. Community need should always supersede political need, yet taxpayers are watching half a billion dollars deployed purely as a political tool.

The Prime Minister's defence of a generous $6 million grant to the Marrickville Golf Club in his own electorate has stretched credulity. Anthony Albanese claims ignorance of an honorary membership to the club, insisting he is a tennis player rather than a golfer. The weak excuse has been pretty galling from a leader who repeatedly promised a new era of political integrity and accountability.

Former Nationals minister Bridget McKenzie stepped down over a grant to a regional gun club where she held........

© Canberra Times