VICTOR Spence says he has no idea how he became a member of the Australian Labor Party.
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But now he is in, he says he is having trouble getting out.
Mr Spence, of Waratah, said he first learned of his Labor affiliation earlier this year when he received a letter from the party advising him of his membership.
"I have absolutely no idea how it could have happened without my knowledge or consent," he said.
He said he had phoned the ALP's Sydney headquarters more than once to discuss the issue and had been told that a form, apparently with his signature, was in the party's files.
Payment of about $60 had been received to cover his membership for three years.
"I can absolutely guarantee that I have never paid any money to the Labor Party for membership fees," Mr Spence said.
He asserted that the last time he phoned the party the conversation became heated and he was cut off.
"I phoned the Electoral Commission but they said there was nothing they could do. They told me to contact the police and the Privacy Commission," he said.
Mr Spence believes he has become unwittingly caught up in a wave of allegations of branch-stacking affecting the ALP in Newcastle.
The Herald reported earlier this year that a factional battle was under way between federal member for Newcastle Sharon Grierson and a right-wing opponent, David March.
Mr March told The Herald he was actively recruiting new ALP members, mainly from the city's Filipino community, in a bid to have enough supporters to unseat Ms Grierson at the next federal preselection ballot.
Mr Spence's wife Pedrita is a Filipina and she too has alleged that she appears to have "accidentally" joined the ALP without intending to and without paying any membership fees.
Mr March said he knew nothing about any "accidental" party members and certainly had nothing to do with signing up Mr Spence. He recalled Mrs Spence signing a membership application at a meeting at which he was present and speculated she may have somehow signed her husband up around the same time.
Mrs Spence has rejected this explanation.
Mr March had no idea how the couple could have become members without paying their own fees and he had never paid fees for anybody.
Mr Spence said he was not interested in politics.
"I am just angry that I've been signed up against my will in a political party and I want out. I asked them months ago to take me off their books but when I phoned them last week I was still listed as a member," he said.
"It looks like I have to take it to the police to get some action."
The Herald contacted the ALP's Sydney office but nobody was prepared to comment.
Mr March said he sympathised with Mr Spence and wished the ALP would pay attention to his complaint.
"Unfortunately ALP head office is notoriously slow with things like this. I've been trying to get the names of dead people removed from membership lists for years but head office doesn't move," he said.
The Newcastle branch-stacking allegations are understood to be listed for hearing at the Labor Party's August administrative committee meeting.
