Victorian Labor MP Marlene Kairouz has launched Supreme Court action against her own party's national executive over its handling of an investigation into allegations of branch stacking levelled against her.
The former minister and the Mayor of Banyule, Rick Garotti, were both referred to the ALP's disputes tribunal over branch stacking allegations on February 1.
It followed an audit of the Victorian ALP membership by former premier Steve Bracks and former federal MP Jenny Macklin that was triggered by allegations aired on 60 Minutes last June of a widespread branch stacking operation led by then-Labor MP Adem Somyurek.
More than 1,800 "non-genuine members" have now been removed from the Labor Party's rolls.
Ms Kairouz has denied the accusations and said the charges are "trumped up".
Kairouz labels party rule changes 'draconian'
In an email to colleagues, she said it was "with the heaviest of hearts" that she had lodged an application with the Supreme Court of Victoria challenging actions by the ALP's national executive.
"Whilst I am a proud member of the Australian Labor Party and proud member of the state Labor caucus, I feel I have little option but to pursue my legal rights and justice through the courts because I have formed the view that the investigation by the administrators, and the trumped-up charges brought by them against me, have been undertaken to justify a predetermined outcome," she said.
Ms Kairouz, who is the Member for Kororoit in Melbourne's west, said amendments to ALP rules, which she described as "draconian", meant she would be "presumed to be guilty of charges for breaching new party rules unless I can prove I am innocent".
"This 'presumptive guilt' or 'reverse onus', which is an unknown practice in the ALP, only applies to those charged by the administrators," she wrote.
She said three days before she was charged on January 28, media outlets reported she would be charged with a string of branch-stacking breaches and lose her membership.
"The administrators, despite allocating a vast amount of resources searching for proof of branch-stacking activity by me, could not find any.
"They then laid trumped-up charges against me based on retrospective application of new rules."
She said the only recourse left open to her was seeking justice in the courts.
The ABC has contacted the ALP for comment.
