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A former NSW Labor MP is accused of using taxpayer funds to buy slabs of beer, vodka, Chinese meals and chicken nuggets.
The claim was made by former party colleague Khal Asfour at a parliamentary inquiry on Monday looking into allegations of misconduct at his office.
The investigation was launched in 2022 when Tania Mihailuk MP used parliamentary privilege to allege Asfour had ownership links to disgraced New South Wales Labor leader Eddie Obeid.
Asfour denied wrongdoing.
Former Labor MP Tania Mihailuk (pictured) has been accused of spending taxpayer funds on slabs of beer, vodka, Chinese meals and chicken nuggets.
The mayor of the Canterbury-Bankstown council in south-west Sydney withdrew a bid to run for state parliament after separate reports emerged in January that he used taxpayer funds to pay for designer clothes.
He said at Monday’s hearing that he believed the information given to the committee had been selectively leaked.
“Before I had a chance to answer any of your questions, a deliberate and calculated leak intended to damage my reputation… derailed my political ambitions,” he said.
Asfour said he was left with no choice but to withdraw as a candidate for the Labor Party’s upper house.
He called on One Nation MP and investigative committee member Mark Latham to resign, citing a January press conference held by the MP with Ms Mihailuk.
“(Mr. Latham) accused me of claiming everything from the taxpayer except my underpants,” he said.
Ms Mihailuk was expelled from the Labor Party in 2022 and later announced that she intended to run as the upper house candidate for One Nation in the March state election.
“My challenge to Mr Latham ahead of this public inquiry is to commit to doing due diligence on the newest member of his racist party,” Asfour said.
The Bankstown mayor and Ms Mihailuk’s former party colleague Khal Asfour (pictured) made sensational claims about her at a parliamentary inquiry on Monday.
He then made a series of sensational claims about Ms. Mihailuk.
“He spent tens of thousands of dollars of taxpayer money on things like bottles of Johnnie Walker Scotch, Bailey’s Irish Cream, beer bars, Russian vodka,” he said.
“There weren’t too many local outlets that didn’t know their order.”
“She was also good on her teeth, clamoring for Chinese take-out meals for her family at local outlets and the occasional late-night dining experience.”
‘Not to forget the chicken nuggets, fries and flavored milk for your kids when they’re out of school.’
Latham dismissed Asfour’s comments when contacted by AAP on Monday.
“He is so guilty that he had to resign from the Labor candidacy in disgrace,” he said.
The chair of the inquiry, Liberal MP Aileen MacDonald, urged Mr Asfour not to make any adverse comments, however he insisted his comments were appropriate.
Mr Asfour claimed Ms Mihailuk spent funds on ‘bottles of Johnnie Walker Scotch, Bailey’s Irish Cream, slabs of beer, Russian vodka’ (file image)
He added that Ms. Mihailuk also used taxpayer funds to buy nuggets, flavored milk and French fries for her children (file image)
At an earlier hearing, Asfour said the investigation was politically motivated and lacked transparency.
“It is no secret that I stepped into the shoes of this government when I stood up for my community and many other Western Sydney residents during the harsh lockdowns and excessive policing during the COVID pandemic,” he told the inquiry in December.
“I’ve had a political target on my back ever since, and this is revenge.”
Mr. Asfour was cleared of any wrongdoing in a separate and independent inquiry established to investigate the allegations made by Ms. Mihailuk.
That investigation, led by Arthur Moses SC, found that there was no evidence of corrupt or illegal acts or violations of the Code of Conduct/Local Government Law by Mr Asfour.
AAP has contacted Ms. Mihailuk’s office for comment.