Election 2016: Shorten defends sacking candidate with extremist links

BILL Shorten has defended his decision to force the resignation of Labor candidate Christian Kunde over revelations that he had close links to a member of the extremist group Hizb ut-Tahrir.

Labor candidate Christian Kunde, left, resigned after his connection to Hizb ut-Tahrir spokesman Uthman Badar was revealed by The Daily Telegraph.

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BILL Shorten has defended his decision to force the resignation of Labor candidate Christian Kunde over revelations that he had close links to a member of the extremist group Hizb ut-Tahrir.

But senior Labor frontbencher Ed Husic has also weighed in claiming that closer scrutiny was needed in the preselection process for future candidates.

Mr Kunde resigned his candidacy for the safe NSW Liberal seat of Farrer on Sunday night following inquiries by The Daily Telegraph about his links to the group and lectures he had delivered on gay marriage.

Mr Kunde had offered to discuss his past with The Daily Telegraph but then resigned before the newspaper went to print. Mr Shorten was said to have been furious when told of the issue.

“We have a high standard. As soon as I was aware of the issue we immediately accepted his resignation,” Mr Shorten yesterday said.

Yesterday Mr Kunde claimed his views on gay marriage had been misrepresented.

It also emerged yesterday that he had made offensive remarks about supporters of Israel in 2012 during a workshop at Sydney University.

Deputy Labor leader Tanya Plibersek suggested Mr Kunde should have been up-front about his background.

Kunde and Badar appear in a video of a moderated debate on the belief in God held at ANU in 2012. Picture: YouTube

“It’s sadly a feature of election campaigns that some people aren’t honest,” she said.

But Treasurer Scott Morrison said there was “no grey or fuzzy area when it comes to Hizb ut-Tahrir”.

“This is a disgraceful organisation, an absolutely disgraceful organisation that should be absolutely and totally denounced and any association with that organisation is just absolutely appalling,” he said.

“Look that is one candidate who is going to stand aside but frankly there are still 50 candidates and members and other prominent Labor people who are actually out there right now still campaigning for the Labor Party and they are opposed to our border protection policies.”

Labor MP Ed Husic says closer scrutiny was needed in the preselection process for future candidates. Picture: Adam Yip

Christian Kunde has previously described Uthman Badar, the radical group’s Australian spokesman, as a “trusted friend” in a 2014 opinion piece.

The issue has raised further questions about how political parties vet their candidates, with both major parties having to deal with headaches relating to the issue during this campaign.

Mr Husic yesterday said he expected that over time processes would be “tightened” as parties continued to refine disclosure processes.

“I think that that isn’t a finite journey with a start and stop, you’ve just got to keep improving the process as you go along,” Mr Husic said.