The Labor MP Graham Perrett has complained about the politicisation of the Coalition’s controversial $100m community sport infrastructure grant program after he was excluded from the announcement of a local grant he’d lobbied for while his Liberal opponent was invited for a photo opportunity.

The member for Moreton told Guardian Australia he had helped local soccer club the Sunnybank Saints win $135,000 for a clubhouse upgrade by writing a letter of support, only to discover the application was successful when the club was contacted for a photo opportunity with his opponent, the councillor Angela Owen.

Perrett’s is just one complaint from Labor MPs about the $100m program overseen by the then sports minister Bridget McKenzie that is the subject of a scathing audit office report which found funding decisions were skewed in favour of marginal and target seats.

The audit was sparked by a similar incident when Labor questioned how the Liberal candidate for Mayo, Georgina Downer, was able to present a giant taxpayer-funded $127,373 cheque to the Yankalilla Bowling Club in February 2019.

Perrett said the Sunnybank Saints had a “strong women’s program” and were worthy recipients but he was concerned by “the politicisation … of normal processes” – including excluding him from the announcement.

The Labor MP Lisa Chesters said she was “disappointed but not surprised” that after receiving $527,000 in the first two rounds of the program, her seat of Bendigo was given nothing in the final round before the election.

“This minister [Bridget McKenzie] and the government have form,” Chesters told Guardian Australia.

Projects to miss out in her seat included pitches from the Bendigo Rowing Club, Castlemaine Bowls Club, Woodend Tennis Club and Garden Gully Hockey Pavilion, a project backed by the City of Greater Bendigo.

The audit office found that in the first round 41% of projects approved were not recommended by the Sport Australia board – rising to 70% in the second round and 73% in the final round of funding.

On Thursday, Labor’s shadow minister for sport, Don Farrell, accused the Coalition of “pork-barrelling on an industrial scale” and demanded Nationals deputy leader McKenzie’s resignation.

McKenzie defended her conduct by arguing all of the projects granted funding were eligible and “no rules were broken”. She claimed her intervention had actually increased the proportion of projects in Labor electorates from 26% to 34%, suggesting this amounted to “reverse pork-barrelling”.

Although the list of successful projects has been published, the government has knocked back attempts by Labor to reveal unsuccessful applicants and the projects that Sport Australia recommended for funding.

On Thursday, Sport Australia rebuffed queries by claiming that “for privacy reasons we will not be providing further detail on individual applications beyond what is outlined in the [audit] report”.

It would not say, for example, whether it recommended a grant of $125,000 be given to the Bradman Foundation, an organisation that lists the former prime minister John Howard as its director and patron.

The money was awarded in round two of the program for upgrades to the heritage-listed Bradman Oval in Bowral.

The auditor general found that 70% of the grants awarded in round two were not endorsed by the Sport Australia board.

There is no suggestion Howard played any role in obtaining the grant, or that it was awarded because of his involvement with the Bradman Foundation. The grant was also awarded in the very safe Labor electorate of Whitlam and was helped by lobbying from a Labor MP, Stephen Jones, who told local news at the time that it was the result of “a great application from the Bradman Foundation and a bit of back door lobbying from me”.

The Bradman Foundation executive director, Rina Hore, said the grant aligned with the program’s aims and guidelines and enjoyed the strong support of Wingecarribee council and Jones, the local MP.

“Our staff and volunteers worked very hard over a two-year period to secure funding for improving public spaces at Bradman Oval,” she told the Guardian. “Two major areas to be improved were shade cover for everyday users, children groups and locals and visitors alike that visit the oval seven days a week, from dawn to dusk.”

Hore said Howard was not involved in the application.

“Mr Howard was not at any time involved in the grant application process, nor did we include his role or position within our application information,” she said.

Farrell said taxpayers “have a right to know and we intend to find out who was approved by Sport Australia, why they didn’t get the money and where the money has gone to”.

Farrell said that unsuccessful applicants “still want to apply for grant money in the future and, of course, they are fearful of retribution” if they speak out about politicisation of the program.

The Australian National Audit Office found the successful applications were “not those that had been assessed as the most meritorious in terms of the published program guidelines” and that McKenzie’s office had instead run a “parallel” assessment process in deciding how to hand out the funds.

The audit committee is already investigating the $220m regional jobs and investment packages program, in which ministers knocked back almost 30% of recommended projects and supported 17% of those not recommended by the department.

Labor MP Julian Hill, deputy chair of the joint committee of public accounts and audit, wants the committee to “urgently expand the current inquiry” to demand answers about the allocation of sports grants.

“The regional jobs report was bad enough but I just about fell off my chair in reading the sports … report – it’s a shocker,” he said.

“Either the minister needs to explain herself properly by publishing the list of applications and make clear which grants were approved on advice and which weren’t, or she should consider standing aside until a proper parliamentary inquiry is completed.”

Janet Rice, the Greens sports spokeswoman, said McKenzie should be “ashamed” of what appeared to be “a government rort designed to win elections”.

“To ignore the merit-based assessment of Sports Australia for almost half of the successful applicants, and instead decide to award grants based on political gain, is a clear and unforgivable misuse of taxpayers’ money,” she said.

“We will pursue this in Senate estimates and will consider seeking the support of the Senate for an inquiry.”

The government has refused to release documents relating to its trouble-plagued $220m regional grants program, claiming release under freedom of information would not inform debate on a “matter of public importance”.