FORMER Farrer candidate Christian Kunde has rejected claims he has "links" to Islamic extremist group Hizb ut-Tahrir and says he resigned to protect his family and the Labor Party.
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The Labor candidate ended his candidacy after being told he would feature in a Daily Telegraph front page story highlighting his relationship with Hizb ut-Tahrir spokesman Uthman Badar.
Mr Kunde said he first met Mr Badar 10 years ago at university and he was "a casual acquaintance" who he had not spoken to in the last year.
"I know he has views that are repugnant and that I fundamentally disagree with, but I thought that anyone getting such unfair treatment in the media deserves some sort of support," Mr Kunde said of his decision to pen an ABC website article in 2014 lamenting media attacks on Mr Badar.
Mr Kunde said as a political candidate he was going against Hizb ut-Tahrir, which opposes democracy, and rejected the claim he likened gay marriage to incest.
"I'm not a member of the group," he said.
"I don't believe that simply by knowing people who are members of a group that you have links to a group.
"In terms of likening same-sex marriage to incest, I didn't do that or say that either.
"I was talking about views that several religious groups had presented."
Mr Kunde said he had decided to quit as Labor's candidate because the issue would distract from the national campaign and hurt his family.
"We're not convinced we a) have the time to deal with this and b) don't want the distress of my family to continue," he said.
The Labor Party had been the only political group to run in every election in Farrer since the seat was created in 1949.
"That was probably one of the most distressing things all for me personally, knowing that the supporters and the members here in this area now don't have a specific candidate to vote for," Mr Kunde said.
"Having said that I would encourage them to get behind the only progressive candidate that is left in Dr Amanda Cohn (Greens)."
Mr Kunde said he would not stand for Labor again.
"If it's possible for a link or a connection that you have to someone you met at university 10 years ago to cause you to be on the front page of a major metropolitan newspaper and to be smeared then it's not the sort of thing I want to be engaged in," he said.
