Bondi surf club is victim of Labor class war, says MP

The iconic Sydney neighbourhood of Bondi prospered when its MP, Malcolm Turnbull, was a member of the federal government. Among other things, it was allocated a $1.7m (£830,000) grant to upgrade its surf lifesaving club, one of the oldest in the world.

Mr Turnbull was turfed out last year, along with the rest of his conservative colleagues, and the new Labor government cancelled the grant in its first Budget last week. A furious Mr Turnbull criticised the Minister for Regional Development and Local Government, Anthony Albanese, saying he had "declared war on Bondi Beach."

Mr Turnbull, a multimillionaire, accused Mr Albanese, who is from a working-class background, of resorting to "the politics of envy", which, he said, was inappropriate when it came to Bondi. He told The Sun-Herald newspaper: "This is an incredible act of bastardry. It is all about the politics of envy – that's [the Government's] strategy. But this has never been known as a silvertail suburb. It belongs to the whole of Sydney, the whole of Australia."

The North Bondi Surf Life Saving Club was founded a century ago, and is regarded as the birthplace of the surf lifesaving movement in Australia. The grant would have enabled it to redevelop its clubhouse, and upgrade its training and patrolling facilities.

The previous government of John Howard had set aside $2m for projects in Bondi, most of which was destined for the surf lifesaving club, the largest of its kind in Australia. Mr Turnbull, a former lawyer, who defended the ex-MI5 agent Peter Wright in his battle to prevent the British Government from banning his memoir Spycatcher, accused Mr Albanese of singling out Bondi for attack. "The club has relied on the integrity of the government to deliver, and that integrity has been shattered by the cynical Mr Albanese," he said. "It is all about punishing Bondi because it is in my seat of Wentworth."

Mr Albanese hit back, saying it was the fault of Mr Turnbull, the former Environment Minister, as he had failed to deliver the grant while in government. "Bondi should find itself a local member who can deliver on grants," he said. "Malcolm could find the time [in government] to organise $10m for crazy cloud-seeding propositions, but couldn't find the time to properly deliver the grant that he promised."

Labor has accused Mr Turnbull of using millions of dollars earmarked for regional Australia to "pork-barrel" in his own marginal constituency, before the last election. He was the only government MP to increase his majority.

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