Anthony Albanese’s sewage saga has drawn more of his ministers into the muck, forced to defend their boss after he incorrectly claimed that a $6m grant awarded to a golf club in his electorate was to prevent effluent flowing into a nearby river.

The Prime Minister had been accused of misleading Parliament for the reason the Marrickville Golf Club — of which he is a member — was given the cash, following accusations from the Opposition and crossbench that it was a porkbarrelling exercise designed to shore up his support within his seat of Grayndler.

Mr Albanese made a rare concession in Question Time on Tuesday to clarify that “it was not correct” to say the money channelled to the club through the Federal grant was for sewerage works. The sewerage works were instead funded through NSW Government spending.

“The funding was going to be for sewerage, the NSW government have stepped in which is appropriate given that NSW runs water and sewerage,” Mr Albanese said.

“During election campaigns, people make commitments – I have said it was not correct. It was not correct.”

Ministers Catherine King, Tanya Plibersek, Murray Watt and assistant minister Patrick Gorman were among called upon to do damage control on Mr Albanese’s behalf.

Ms Plibersek, who represents the neighbouring electorate of Sydney, said Mr Albanese was simply keeping an electoral promise.

“I think to be fair, the Prime Minister said (on Tuesday) in Question Time that he did get the detail wrong of the inclusion of the sewerage works in that proposal,” she said.

“However, it is very clear that when he made that original commitment, the sewerage works were part of the original commitment.”

Senator Watt told ABC Breakfast on Wednesday the Federal government was working with the council to determine what the final design of the project would look like.

“It will include works that are complementary to that sewerage work, so, as I say, the Prime Minister was correct in saying the original announcement included sewerage work to remove pollution going into the Cooks River,” he said.

And during an interview with News24, Mr Gorman, who is the Assistant Minister to the Prime Minister, rejected any suggestion Mr Albanese had been deliberately untruthful — in doing so drawing a comparison with the golf club and late American action star Chuck Norris, who died in March aged 86.

“I don’t accept that characterisation. The Prime Minister added additional information in Question Time yesterday,” Mr Gorman said.

“It is a golf course that is about 84 years old. So, the same age as Chuck Norris. It hasn’t held up as well as Chuck Norris has but it’s an old golf course. It needed some investment.”

Infrastructure Minister Catherine King, who had earlier repeated Mr Albanese’s claim that the grant was awarded to fix sewerage flows, has also found herself in it after it was revealed she signed off on a brief which had made no mention of sewerage works.

“This funding commitment was made in April 2025. Part of the commitment included sewerage works. In September 2025, the NSW Government stepped in to fund the sewage-related aspects,” she said on Wednesday.

She accused the Coalition of making commitments under the influence of One Nation leader Pauline Hanson.

Coalition frontbenchers sought to table documents in Question Time on Wednesday, showing the Prime Minister hadn’t made any previous mentioned to sewerage issues at the club prior to the grant being awarded.

“I’ve said that part of the original commitment of the upgrade of Marrickville Golf Club was going to fix the long-running sewerage issue,” Mr Albanese said.

“That was to be part of renovations. That isn’t the case (now) because the State Government has stepped in and announced funding in September 2025.”

The grant first hit headlines last month after a Centre for Public Integrity investigation found the $560 million program it was funded through was invitation-only and heavily favoured safe Labor seats and marginal contests the party hoped to win.

Days later, it was revealed that the Prime Minister had not included his honorary membership of the club on his register of interests, claiming he was unaware he was a member.

The PM dismissed reporting on the scheme at the time, telling the ABC to “do better” and saying he made “no apology” for that funding.

“I make no apologies for my electorate being serviced by me as a good local member. These three grants are all appropriate,” he’d said.

In a 2SM radio interview on Wednesday, Opposition Leader Angus Taylor said it was telling that the PM’s admission only came after intense scrutiny.

“This guy cannot admit that he got it wrong and it gives you a huge insight into this Prime Minister and his character,” Mr Taylor said.

“His strategy is to dig in, refuse to admit any wrongdoing, arrogantly attack your opponents, which he did, and refuse to respond to people seeking answers to legitimate questions.

“This is the problem with our country right now, with this Government.”