An Australian man who spent five years trapped in a legal nightmare in the Middle East says Turnbull government MP Stuart Robert put his life at risk by making a controversial speech defending a property developer.
Breaking years of silence about his ordeal, Marcus Lee has waded into the debate about Mr Robert's links to development firm Sunland, as Labor called on Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull to "back or sack" the embattled MP.
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MP Stuart Robert strongly defends a property developer in parliament - but who wrote the script?
An angry Mr Lee took aim at Mr Robert after the backbencher attempted to justify a November 2012 speech which Fairfax Media this week revealed was partly written by Sunland lobbyist and Liberal Party donor Simone Holzapfel.
"While Mr Robert states he spoke with multiple sources before giving his speeches under parliamentary privilege at no time did he contact me or my representatives to get a balanced view," Mr Lee told Fairfax Media.
"Given the gravity of my situation in the Middle East, and as an Australian citizen, you would think he would have done this at a minimum.
"In making his speeches in parliament Mr Robert not only denied me the presumption of innocence, while a serious criminal case was before Middle East courts, but in doing so he also put me and my wife's life at risk with total disregard."
![Marcus Lee, pictured with his wife Julie, has hit out at Turnbull government MP Stuart Robert.](/web/20161001031003im_/http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/content/dam/images/g/k/w/b/8/n/image.related.articleLeadwide.620x349.grrgqb.png/1475131446747.jpg)
Mr Lee is an accountant and property executive who was arrested on fraud charges in Dubai in 2009 after a land deal between Sunland and his firm Nakheel soured. Along with fellow Australian man Matthew Joyce, he spent nine months in jail and then a further four years under house arrest. He was fully acquitted in 2013 and finally returned home to Australia in 2014.
He is now suing Sunland for loss of income, distress and legal costs. Despite the ongoing case, the normally media-shy Mr Lee felt compelled to speak out after Mr Robert's own comments on Thursday.
Earlier, Mr Robert broke his silence over the affair, saying he felt obligated to defend Sunland - which is based in his Gold Coast electorate - because he felt they were getting "one-sided criticism" in the media.
"Following two earlier speeches delivered by a senator colleague that I also felt were one-sided, I believed that if one side of the issue could be aired in Parliament, the other side could be as well. That is only fair," Mr Robert said in a statement.
"I was informed by various sources.
"Due to the complexities of the issues involved it was important to be precise with language, I delivered my own speech."
![An extract of Mr Robert's speech to Parliament. The highlighted section is just part of his speech that appears to ...](/web/20161001031003im_/http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/content/dam/images/g/r/p/o/8/f/image.related.articleLeadwide.620x349.grrgqb.png/1475131446747.jpg)
In another 2012 speech, Mr Robert was critical of Mr Lee and Mr Joyce while lauding Sunland as a "solid Australian corporate citizen" and its directors as "fine, upstanding men" and "pillars of the community".
The speeches sent shockwaves through Mr Lee's camp, who felt they were ill-informed and could have a devastating impact on his bid for freedom.
Mr Lee called Mr Robert's justification "bizarre".
![Stuart Robert has defended his controversial speech about Sunland.](/web/20161001031003im_/http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/content/dam/images/g/r/n/k/o/u/image.related.articleLeadNarrow.300x0.grrgqb.png/1475133630485.jpg)
"Given I was completely exonerated by the Dubai courts I'm still waiting for an apology from Mr Robert," he said.
Shadow attorney-general Mark Dreyfus said Mr Robert's position as chair of Parliament's committee on treaties was untenable.
It demands someone of the highest integrity and impartiality to fill that role – Mr Robert is clearly not the right person for the job
"This is an important role which oversees major trade deals and extradition treaties with other nations," he said.
"It demands someone of the highest integrity and impartiality to fill that role – Mr Robert is clearly not the right person for the job."
The job adds almost $32,000 to the backbencher's $199,000 base salary.
Former Labor MP Craig Thomson was forced to stand down as chair of the economics committee in August 2011 while was investigated for misusing Health Services Union funds.
Making his first public comments on the issue, Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull did not offer a defense of his backbencher.
"That speech has been on the public record, the donations that were made by a property developer have also been on the public record and disclosed," he said. "He set out all those facts and I refer you to them."
Opposition Leader Bill Shorten said he was "surprised" by Mr Turnbull's handling of the matter.
"Malcolm Turnbull has to decide does he back Stuart Robert, or will he sack Stuart Robert? Â Will he back him or sack him?"
Mr Robert said any suggestion he helped Sunland in exchange for political donations was "outrageous and offensive".
Mr Robert was sacked from Mr Turnbull's frontbench in February over a controversy involving Liberal Party donor Paul Marks.