LAKE Macquarie councillor Daniel Wallace has been forced to withdraw from the race to replace Greg Combet as ALP candidate for Charlton after threats to reveal his past run-ins with the law.
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Cr Wallace, 34, told the Newcastle Herald he had two convictions for assault, which occurred in his mid-20s.
‘‘Both incidents were after drinking and before I was in public life,’’ Cr Wallace said.
‘‘I received a small fine and a good behaviour bond for both.’’
Cr Wallace said he received a phone call from someone he knew from ‘‘the other side of politics’’ from outside the area.
He said the person asked whether he had a criminal record and warned it would be used against him in the lead-up to the election.
‘‘Local politics is alive with rumours that the Liberal Party is planning to use my personal mistakes in the election campaign after Saturday’s preselection,’’ he said.
But a Liberal spokeswoman said it was a ‘‘baseless allegation with no truth to it’’.
A Labor source said the information could have come from inside the ALP.
‘‘Sections of Labor are known for these kind of dirty tricks,’’ the source said.
Cr Wallace pulled out of the race on Thursday, saying he was putting the party ahead of his own ambition.
He feared the information would be used as a smear campaign that could harm Labor’s chances in the election.
Some party members believe Cr Wallace had a good chance of winning the preselection.
Cr Wallace, who is a union leader, suspected a dirt unit had dug up information on him, but he did not know where it originated.
He had ‘‘run a clean campaign’’ in the preselection and was disappointed he had been smeared, lamenting a political culture that had a ‘‘win-at-all-costs attitude, with no regards for redemption for those who have made mistakes’’.
‘‘I made mistakes as a young man and I have grown up a lot since then,’’ he said. ‘‘I have a young family and a desire to make our community a better place.’’
A ballot for the preselection will occur on Saturday.
Cr Wallace’s withdrawal leaves four candidates, including Mr Combet’s former deputy chief of staff Pat Conroy.
Other candidates are community activist Chris Osborne, Department of Defence assistant director Marcus Mariani and Joshua Brown.
