Bhathal’s loss in Victorian seat of Batman in March was dogged by internal leaks and complaints against her

This article is more than 2 years old

This article is more than 2 years old

Perennial Greens candidate Alex Bhathal will not run at the next federal election, hitting out at the “sabotage” that dogged her campaign to win the marginal seat of Batman earlier this year and declaring the behaviour was why “we have a parliament full of white, male lawyers.”

In a statement, Bhathal – who is currently listed at the party’s candidate for the seat which is to be renamed Cooper – said the decision was made in light of chronic stress caused by “threats, slurs and aggressions” directed at her and her family.

“As a small but growing party, it was always going to be a hard ask to win a House of Representatives seat,” she said.

“But I never expected that we’d face internal sabotage in the middle of our most winnable campaign, with some people choosing to anonymously brief the Murdoch media and actively aid our opponents.”

After Labor’s David Feeney quit the seat over dual citizenship earlier this year, the Greens began as favourites to win in the quickly gentrifying inner north of Melbourne.

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Instead, a consistent stream of damaging leaks, including of a 101-page dossier of complaints against Bhathal, meant the party’s campaign quickly went off the rails. A party investigation later cleared her of any wrongdoing.

Meanwhile Labor’s decision to preselect Ged Kearney, a popular former union leader and nurse, invigorated its campaign.

Kearney went on to win the seat 54-46%, garnering a swing to Labor, even in some booths south of the electorate where the Greens vote is strongest.

A social worker of Indian heritage, Bhathal also said the internal campaign against her was evidence of why federal parliament lacked diversity. The Greens current federal MPs and senators are all white (Mehreen Faruqi, who was born in Pakistan, will replace Lee Rhiannon in the senate later in August).

“And yes, this really is why we have a parliament full of white, male lawyers,” she said.

Bhathal told Guardian Australia she believed women and people from Indigenous and migrant backgrounds had to “constantly prove our integrity and our honesty”.

“We’re vulnerable to exactly the kind of character assassination by media and slander that’s happened to me, because we’re already under suspicion, just by virtue of who we are,” she said.

“Australia needs to start talking about this kind of unconscious race and gender bias or our parliaments, corporations and public institutions will never represent our diversity as a nation.”

Earlier this week, the Victorian branch of the party apologised for its handling of the internal bullying allegations, and promised a “truth, reconciliation and healing process”.

Bhathal, who ran for the seat six times, said she felt she had no choice but to stand down because the party had “declined to take any action against individuals who seem determined to sabotage me and the party”.

“I’m currently receiving legal advice about my options including commencing a proceeding under the Incorporated Associations Act for unfair and oppressive conduct,” she told Guardian Australia.

The Greens MP for Melbourne, Adam Bandt, said he was heartbroken that Bhathal had been “torn down in public through the kind of behaviour expected from the old parties”.

“I hope it never happens again,” he said.

The party has named gay rights campaigner and former Greens adviser Adam Pulford for the nearby seat of Wills, currently held by Labor’s Peter Khalil.