Greens leader says leaks to media about Alex Bhathal hurt chances of ‘strong, progressive woman’ being elected

This article is more than 2 years old

This article is more than 2 years old

Richard Di Natale has spoken of his frustration that one week out from a byelection in the Victorian electorate of Batman, disgruntled Greens party members are continuing to leak damaging reports about its candidate, Alex Bhathal.

The Greens leader disputed parts of a report by the ABC on Friday that he had ordered Bhathal be investigated five years ago over the alleged use of confidential party information, and said it was concerning that Greens members were leaking information to the media to undermine her.

The ABC reported that the Greens’ 2013 state council meeting included discussions about the alleged misuse of in-camera information from the party’s executive meeting. The ABC said there were allegations Bhathal misused this confidential information, prompting Di Natale to intervene.



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But Di Natale told Guardian Australia there was nothing controversial about him referring the matter on, and that he was not concerned about Bhathal specifically.

“The issue of in-camera minutes was already being debated at state council and remained unresolved, so I simply suggested a procedural motion to refer it to another forum,” he said. “This is common practice and we regularly refer contested matters from state council to other working groups.”

The report follows the leaking of a 101-page internal complaint against Bhathal. The complaint was leaked to media despite being investigated and dealt with.

Bhathal has run for the Greens repeatedly since 2001, losing Batman in 2016 when Liberal preferences flowed to Labor’s David Feeney. The upcoming 17 March byelection was sparked after Feeney resigned from parliament over dual citizenship.

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Guardian Australia understands that a number of Greens members would rather see Bhathal lose in order to preserve a chance of a different candidate running in future.

“It’s disappointing that a small number of people who disagree with the outcome of a democratic, grassroots preselection process are undermining the chances of electing a strong, progressive woman in Batman,” Di Natale said.



When the internal complaint against her was leaked, Bhathal, a social worker, said: “We’re dealing with a situation here where I’m very well known and people can make their own judgments.”

A Greens victory in Batman would give the party its second lower house seat. The seat of Melbourne is held by Adam Bandt.



On Friday afternoon Di Natale said he was made aware of alleged racial slurs against Bhathal from Batman Labor campaigners, who had been writing the Hindu religious term namaste on her Facebook page. Bhathal is of Indian origin.

Di Natale called on the Labor leader, Bill Shorten, to condemn the comments and said the Greens would lodge a complaint to the Australian Electoral Commission and the Victorian Equal Opportunity and Human Rights Commission.

Alex McKinnon (@mckinnon_a) So Labor members and supporters on member-run Facebook pages are routinely referring to Greens politicians @MehreenFaruqi and @alexbhathal by the Hindu religious term "namaste", presumably referring to their Pakistani/Indian heritage. This is fucking revolting. pic.twitter.com/pHXpScUwns

“This abuse is outrageous,” Di Natale said. “It is not only racist, it is sexist. Clearly some people in the Labor party are threatened that a strong woman of colour has nominated to stand for what has been a safe Labor seat. This sort of behaviour is not acceptable in a modern, multicultural Australia.”



Bhathal said she was proud of her South Asian heritage.

“We need more women of colour in politics and I will not let racist attacks stop me from fighting for the community I love,” she said.