We see it often: political players insisting what’s good for the goose shouldn’t apply to the gander.

Back in the Morrison days, Labor relentlessly pursued then sports minister Bridget McKenzie over grants found by an audit to be politically skewed. Eventually McKenzie was forced to quit cabinet – on the grounds she had undeclared membership of gun organisations.

Now the tables have been turned. A report from the independent Centre for Public Integrity (CPI) examined the government’s $560 million Local and Major Community Infrastructure Program. This revealed the “invitation only” program has had a decided political bent.

Gabrielle Appleby, from the centre, writing in The Conversation this week, said the analysis found “almost three-quarters of the funding going to the government’s own electorates. Even after accounting for Labor holding more seats, Labor-held electorates received substantially more funding than a proportional distribution would predict, while Coalition and other electorates received correspondingly less.”

Read more: Government must be more transparent about who gets community grants – and why

The ABC’s coverage highlighted a $6 million grant to a golf club in Anthony Albanese’s electorate. And, it turns out Albanese had honorary membership of the club, which he hadn’t declared.

Nearly as notable as the findings themselves was the PM’s reaction to the ABC story. He went ballistic.

“The ABC should do better,” he declared on Wednesday, during a media round that was supposed to be devoted to the government’s new push to curb the worst of social media.

The Marrickville golf course (where he used to walk Toto when he lived in the area and attended a dog event) was a “community facility” that had an issue of sewage from a septic tank flowing into a nearby........

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