Race Over for Rush

By Des Dugan

THE Labor Party is in disarray following the resignation of state candidate Martin Rush for the coming New South Wales election over an alleged assault on a female.

The incident was supposed to have taken place late last year and reported recently in a letter to the Labor Party candidate review committee.

There were no police charges involved and the committee subsequently dismissed the allegation.

The Muswellbrook Mayor was contesting the seat on behalf of the Labor Party when the scandal was exposed by the Fairfax newspapers, Sydney Morning Herald and Newcastle Herald early this week.

The publications also quoted Michael Johnsen who said he had been given a copy of the anonymous letter, which he had given to police the same day.

Martin Rush is out of the race for the seat of Upper Hunter.

Mr Rush made a statement saying: “obviously (it’s) been a very difficult few days”.

“At the centre of the complaint is an allegation of an assault. I categorically deny that allegation. People have the absolute right to make a complaint and if they feel aggrieved about an issue they should be encouraged to do so,” Mr Rush said.

“It helps no one to prematurely publish anonymous allegations. It attacks at all the fundamentals of fairness our society holds as valuable,” he said.

The general consensus in political circles was Martin, with a bit of work, had the seat for the taking, however, with no forceful candidate in the wings, the sitting member Michael Johnsen is facing popular Scone based Shooters, Fishers and Farmers candidate, Lee Watts.

Johnsen holds the seat by a margin of just 2.2 per cent.

Mr Rush said he decided to withdraw as the Upper Hunter Country Labor candidate despite the complaint being dismissed.

“My focus has been on the welfare of my family and friends affected by the anonymous complaint published in the Sun Herald on Sunday,’ Mr Rush said.

“Weighing heavily on me over the last few days has been balancing my desire to get up every morning and to try and make the place a little better with the inevitable impact of public life on those around me. It is very difficult to see others upset by anonymous allegations published on the front page of a metropolitan newspaper.

“For that reason, I have asked the party to find another candidate for Upper Hunter. It has not been an easy decision, particularly given the seat’s margin’.

Mr Rush said he believed politics ‘should not be about weighing the other side down in smear but about genuine conversations about improving policy, building things, and improving people’s lives’.