Anthony Albanese has admitted he got it wrong after telling parliament a $6m grant to a golf club in his electorate was to stop “raw sewage” going into the nearby river.

The grant given to Marrickville golf club in Sydney’s inner-west is under scrutiny as part of a larger $560m invitation-only grants scheme, which transparency advocates say largely funded projects promised at the 2025 election in Labor-held seats.

Infrastructure department officials told a Senate estimates hearing on Monday afternoon the $6m grant given to the club in Albanese’s electorate did not fund works to prevent raw sewage from flowing into the nearby river, contrary to the prime minister’s claims.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s Politics, really newsletter here

“I can confirm that sewerage is not a component of this grant,” the department’s assistant secretary, Jacinta McDonald, said.

The assistant regional development minister, Anthony Chisholm, defended the prime minister’s response, saying the scope had changed since the…