Nural Khan slams ALP ‘threats’

Dumped Labor candidate Nurul Khan claims he is the victim of a conspiracy involving Labor MPs to destroy his career.

Nurul Khan, left, with Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews.

A dumped Victorian ALP candidate has accused Labor MPs of plotting to destroy his political ­career and claimed party lawyers warned him Premier Daniel Andrews would publicly criticise him unless he withdrew from next week’s election.

Bangladeshi-born Nurul Khan – secretly axed by Labor as its western metropolitan candidate five days ago after party chiefs received an anonymous dirt sheet on the lawyer – has alleged Andrews government MPs were involved in a conspiracy against him.

Victorian ALP chiefs received an email at 1.18am on November 9 from a Gmail account making serious allegations against Mr Khan and without investigating them, or asking for his side of the story, ­immediately moved to cut him from its upper house ticket.

In his first detailed public comments on his demise, Mr Khan has told The Australian he believed Labor MPs were involved in writing and sending the email.

“It is my opinion that some local MPs are involved in removing me,” he said.

“(They) were not happy to see me as a candidate which ... when I declared my candidacy, one of the existing MPs called couple of party members (questioning) how Nurul has been nominated for upper house.”

Mr Khan, an experienced lawyer, said he had not decided whether he would refer the matter to Victoria Police or the Independent Broad-based Anti-corruption Commission, but he was searching for further evidence around the dirt sheet.

Mr Khan quit the Victorian Labor Party on Thursday in disgust at his treatment during phone calls and online meetings with deputy state director Cameron Petrie and a party lawyer. “During the zoom meeting, (the lawyer) interrupted Mr Petrie and started talking without any greetings. She said that it was not a discussion, rather a decision,” Mr Khan said.

“She offered me two options – either I withdraw my nomination or if the matter gets addressed by media, Premier might come on TV and say I disassociate Nurul. I felt offended the way (the lawyer) started to talk. She showed no respect to me.

“They told me that my political career will be ruined if I would not withdraw. No one would notice if a lawyer running a practice in Werribee withdrew the nomination. It shows how they value us.”

Mr Khan said he refused to resign and challenged them to dump him. “I made it clear politics is not my career and I came to politics from my passion for community work,” he said. “I kept receiving calls from some party members requesting me to withdraw.”

Mr Khan said he received an email from the ALP with a formal letter and resignation form to withdraw his nomination. “The letter stated that ‘the party holds no view as to whether the allegations are true or untrue. The fact that allegations have been made at all has led us to seek your resignation at this time,’ ” he said.

“I replied to them on the same night that if the majority of the party members believe that it was a fair decision that I would leave it up to them. I would fight for truth and under any circumstances I would not compromise with injustice and to withdraw the nomination.”

Mr Khan, who was formally disendorsed on November 12 in a dramatic intervention never made public by the ALP, said Mr Petrie had confirmed to him that the ALP had not contacted any of the names attached to the anonymous dirt sheet. “There were false, disgraceful and humiliating alle­gations in that email,” he said.

“He (Mr Petrie) told me about the email they received and asked straight away to withdraw my nomination. He told me that ‘We understand none of the allegations are true, but we want you to withdraw the nomination’. I told him that I will not support any unfounded claims. He agreed that he understands the email was from a fake ID and all the allegations are not true. However, for the interest of the party they wanted me to withdraw the nomination. He told me that If I would not withdraw, they would disendorse me.”