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The frontrunner for the prized Labor preselection in Wills has been targeted for his involvement in Iraq and the Middle East by a "vicious dirt sheet", as the bitter battle for the seat intensifies.
On Thursday, Labor members in the seat, which includes Coburg, Brunswick and Pascoe Vale, received a four-page dirt sheet on Peter Khalil, detailing his involvement and statements on military action in the Middle East.
Mr Khalil was director of national security policy for the Coalition Provisional Authority in Iraq in 2003 – he also served as a foreign policy adviser to Prime Minister Kevin Rudd.
The sheet is seen as an attempt to paint Mr Khalil as a neo-conservative and pro-Israel in a seat that has a large Middle Eastern population as well as appeal to left-wing voters sympathetic to Palestinians.
Mr Khalil, who has Egyptian heritage, backs a two-state solution.
The attacks on Mr Khalil may also be designed to appeal to non-Labor members in the seat, which is under threat from the Greens.
The sheet, titled "The Truth", features a header with his face and a background featuring dripping blood. It links Mr Khalil to former US President George W. Bush and neo-conservatives in his administration.
"We may as well welcome our pending 'Labor' candidate for Wills, Peter Khalil, a voice in the Australian Parliament for George W. Bush supporters everywhere," the sheet says.
Allies and opponents of the candidate have all dismissed the sheet as "grubby", "pathetic" and "offensive", with his supporters saying the dirt had actually rallied people to Mr Khalil's cause.
Mr Khalil is seen as the frontrunner ahead of former Senator and Andrews government adviser Mehmet Tillem and scientist and adviser to Opposition Leader Bill Shorten, Anna-Maria Arabia.
The distribution of the sheet comes just three days before local branch members begin voting and as anger among some members swells over a deal between factional heavies to secure Mr Khalil the seat.
The whole election has been shrouded in allegations of backroom deals from all corners, with public finger-pointing and muck-raking frustrating those that wish to project Labor as a modern democratic party.
Candidates for the preselection have denied spreading the dirt sheet and condemned its use.
Mr Shorten also condemned the material, saying it had no place in Labor pre-elections.
"This is offensive and completely unacceptable - there's no place for it in the Labor Party," he said.
A source close to Mr Khalil said he was very disappointed in the "vicious dirt sheet" because it did not portray the other part of his foreign policy prescription, especially his desire for Australia to boost its refugee intake.
"Those people in Labor that produced this dirt sheet are not only attacking Peter but the Labor party because it helps our opponents. It really is base politics that has no place in Australian politics," he said.
