A south-west Sydney MP told voters at a polling booth not to vote for a local council candidate in an election in which her partner was also running because the candidate's "cousins are murderers and drug dealers", a Sydney court has heard.
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The independent council candidate, Rabie Chehade, is now suing the MP, Labor's Tania Mihailuk, for defamation, telling the Sydney District Court her alleged comments "ruined me".
The court had heard that Ms Mihailuk's partner, Alex Kuskoff, was the lead Labor candidate for Bankstown local council in the 2012 local council elections.
In the opening day of the defamation hearing on Tuesday, Mr Chehade described how he was handing out how-to-vote cards on election day when he received a phone call from his brother who was also handing out at Bankstown West Public School.
"He said, 'There's a lady here called Tania Mihailuk, she's gone in front of voters, she's saying 'don't vote for him his cousins are murderers,' " Mr Chehade said.
"He said he spoke to her and she said, 'Well, go and look it up, it's on Wikipedia,' " he continued.
The court heard this was allegedly one of two occasions on which Ms Mihailuk made defamatory comments. On the second occasion, she allegedly said Mr Chehade's cousins were "murderers and drug dealers".
"It ruined me," Mr Chehade told the court.
"I grew up in the area, I've lived there all my life ... worked there.
"It's no good for my reputation. People always ask me about it during my work. I feel like I always have to explain 'No it's not true, none of that is true,' " he continued.
"It's caused me a lot of anxiety."
After the election, in which Mr Kuskoff won a seat on the council and Mr Chehade lost, the latter's solicitor contacted Ms Mihailuk demanding an apology.
She refused.
The court heard that the MP denies ever making the comment.
Her barrister, Peter Lange, accused Mr Chehade of "making up his evidence".
He denied this.
The hearing continues.
