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Former LNP senator alleges David Van ‘inappropriately touched’ her
By Alex Crowe and James Massola
Former Queensland senator Amanda Stoker has released a statement accusing her then-Coalition colleague David Van of inappropriately touching her.
Her statement was released after Senator Lidia Thorpe made accusations of harassment against Van in the Senate, which he vehemently denied, and Opposition Leader Peter Dutton removed him from the Liberal party room on Thursday morning, citing “other allegations” being brought to his attention.
Senator David Van has denied inappropriately touching former Liberal senator Amanda Stoker at a function at Parliament House three years ago.Credit: Sydney Morning Herald
Dutton made clear that he passed no judgement on the veracity of any allegations or any person’s guilt or innocence.
Van said he had been “blindsided” by the allegations when Dutton raised them and he said he “had no recollection of the events at all”.
“They were things that were raised by my colleagues three years ago. We had a frank and open and friendly discussion about them.”
Stoker’s statement on Thursday evening said the incident happened in November 2020 at an informal social gathering in a parliamentary office.
“He did so by squeezing my bottom twice. By its nature and by its repetition, it was not accidental. That action was not appropriate. It was unprofessional and uninvited.
“I raised the matter with Senator Van at a meeting the following day. I described the action, told him it was unacceptable, and that it was not to be repeated. He apologised and said he would never do it again.
“I accepted his apology and his undertaking.”
Stoker said contemporaneous notes of the meeting were taken, it never happened again and she advised a senior female colleague about the incident to ensure that any other incidents or future reports could be dealt with appropriately.
“Obviously, this was not a good experience. I took it very seriously but did not want his misbehaviour to define me or any other woman. I simply wanted to ensure his behaviour was never repeated,” Stoker said in her statement.
She said she addressed his behaviour through internal processes, and asked for it to be kept confidential.
“I would have preferred that the matter be resolved privately and finally – as I thought it was. However, following Senator Thorpe’s allegations, it is now clear that is no longer tenable.
“I do not know of any other similar events or reports,” Stoker said.
Van said he told Dutton “it was not something I would do, but you have to respect colleagues if they feel like something has happened. I support them, we remained friends from that day since”.
Boris Johnson deliberately misled parliament over lockdown parties: report
By Rob Harris
Turning to breaking international news, a parliamentary inquiry has concluded former British prime minister Boris Johnson knowingly misled parliament multiple times in his statements about Downing Street gatherings that breached COVID rules.
Johnson has been under investigation by the Commons privileges committee since last June, after a probe by police and then senior civil servant Sue Gray confirmed a series of gatherings had taken place during lockdowns.
Johnson was found to have misled the House of Commons in five different ways in a scathing report by the seven-member cross-party privileges committee released on Thursday.
The committee said it would have recommended a suspension from parliament for 90 days if Johnson had not resigned as an MP on Friday night.
Read the full story from Europe correspondent Rob Harris.
Former LNP senator alleges David Van ‘inappropriately touched’ her
By Alex Crowe and James Massola
Former Queensland senator Amanda Stoker has released a statement accusing her then-Coalition colleague David Van of inappropriately touching her.
Her statement was released after Senator Lidia Thorpe made accusations of harassment against Van in the Senate, which he vehemently denied, and Opposition Leader Peter Dutton removed him from the Liberal party room on Thursday morning, citing “other allegations” being brought to his attention.
Senator David Van has denied inappropriately touching former Liberal senator Amanda Stoker at a function at Parliament House three years ago.Credit: Sydney Morning Herald
Dutton made clear that he passed no judgement on the veracity of any allegations or any person’s guilt or innocence.
Van said he had been “blindsided” by the allegations when Dutton raised them and he said he “had no recollection of the events at all”.
“They were things that were raised by my colleagues three years ago. We had a frank and open and friendly discussion about them.”
Stoker’s statement on Thursday evening said the incident happened in November 2020 at an informal social gathering in a parliamentary office.
“He did so by squeezing my bottom twice. By its nature and by its repetition, it was not accidental. That action was not appropriate. It was unprofessional and uninvited.
“I raised the matter with Senator Van at a meeting the following day. I described the action, told him it was unacceptable, and that it was not to be repeated. He apologised and said he would never do it again.
“I accepted his apology and his undertaking.”
Stoker said contemporaneous notes of the meeting were taken, it never happened again and she advised a senior female colleague about the incident to ensure that any other incidents or future reports could be dealt with appropriately.
“Obviously, this was not a good experience. I took it very seriously but did not want his misbehaviour to define me or any other woman. I simply wanted to ensure his behaviour was never repeated,” Stoker said in her statement.
She said she addressed his behaviour through internal processes, and asked for it to be kept confidential.
“I would have preferred that the matter be resolved privately and finally – as I thought it was. However, following Senator Thorpe’s allegations, it is now clear that is no longer tenable.
“I do not know of any other similar events or reports,” Stoker said.
Van said he told Dutton “it was not something I would do, but you have to respect colleagues if they feel like something has happened. I support them, we remained friends from that day since”.
Analysis: The dark days of 2021 return to parliament
By Lisa Visentin
Fighting back tears as she rose to her feet in the Senate, Lidia Thorpe delivered a message many will find difficult to accept so soon after the reckoning that shook Parliament House only two years earlier.
The building was still not safe, she said, countering the myriad people from across the parliament who had expressed hope that a new, better culture was now in place at the heart of the nation’s democracy.
Instead, Thorpe spoke of a workplace that, by design, left its female occupants vulnerable.
Electing not to name her alleged perpetrator, she said she had been “followed, aggressively propositioned and inappropriately touched”.
Only hours earlier, a cross-party group of female MPs and their staffers had gathered in one of the building’s nooks for a Women for Election event, part of a fresh drive to encourage women to run for public office. Though in a week in which each day plumbed new depths, perhaps few were convinced of the merits of such a career path.
Albanese confident of Voice win ‘once the debate goes out of Canberra’
By Matthew Knott
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese says he remains confident Australians will support an Indigenous Voice to parliament when a referendum is held later this year despite recent polls showing a decline in support.
Albanese said he believed that “once the debate goes out of Canberra” it will shift in favour of the yes case as supporters begin knocking on doors and campaigning in local communities.
“We have gaps in health and education and housing and incarceration rates,” Albanese told ABC radio.
“We need to do better and we know that when we consult people who are directly affected, when they get that empowerment or, as the Uluru statement calls it, if you remove that torment of powerlessness from indigenous people we will get better outcomes.”
This week’s Resolve poll showed support for the Voice dropping below 50 per cent for the first time after months of declining support.
Albanese noted that other polls, including an Essential poll published this week, continue to show a higher level of support for the Voice.
Albanese says publication of Higgins’ texts ‘shouldn’t have occurred’
By Matthew Knott
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese says he fears the publication of Brittany Higgins’ private text messages will have a “triggering” effect on sexual assault survivors and deter harassment victims from coming forward in the future.
Albanese said the past week had “certainly not” been a good look for Parliament House because of the renewed focus on Higgins and independent senator Lydia Thorpe’s claim she was sexually harassed by Liberal senator David Van.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese during question time today.Credit: Alex Ellinghausen
“My concern here is that we know that about 13 per cent of sexual assault victims actually take action go forward to police, and I am worried that the focus that is going on at the moment will have a triggering effect and will deter people from coming forward,” Albanese told ABC radio.
“I think [that for] Ms Higgins’ personal messages with her partner to appear in the paper in the way that they have is something that shouldn’t have occurred, and I’m concerned about that.”
Albanese said that while the government did not control the media, newspapers and websites had an obligation to be responsible when publishing private text messages.
Text messages between Higgins, her partner David Sharaz and various politicians and journalists have been published by outlets including The Australian and the Daily Mail in recent weeks.
Higgins went public in 2021 with claims she was raped in Parliament House. Her trial against fellow former Liberal staffer Bruce Lehrmann was dismissed after a juror brought unauthorised material into jury deliberations.
Fletcher asked if Higgins questions sparked dramatic day in parliament
Liberal frontbencher Paul Fletcher has commented on Opposition Leader Peter Dutton’s decision to ask senator David Van to move to the crossbench following accusations of harassment made by Lidia Thorpe in the Senate.
“Peter’s words speak for themselves. He has arrived at the decision following the statement made by Senator Thorpe and he has moved very quickly in recognition of the importance of this issue,” Fletcher said on the ABC’s Afternoon Briefing program.
“Obviously the presumption of innocence is very important ... and any complainant making a complaint of sexual assault needs to be treated seriously.”
Host Greg Jennett asked if dramatic scenes in parliament today were sparked by the Coalition’s dogged questioning of Finance Minister Katy Gallagher regarding her knowledge of Brittany Higgins’ rape allegation.
Jennett asked Fletcher: “Do you accept, as many have suggested ... that some of the outpouring of emotion that has clearly swept the parliament today is a direct result of the tactics employed by the Coalition in the parliament this week, pursuing Brittany Higgins’ matters?”
Fletcher responded:
No I wouldn’t accept that and nor would I, in fact, accept your characterisation of what we have been pursuing.
What we have been pursuing is the accountability of ministers to the parliament. Senator Gallagher in particular. Senator Gallagher made statements in Senate estimates in mid-2021, and the statement she made in the Senate on Tuesday this week clearly sets out facts that are different to what she said in the Senate in mid 2021.
Jennet signed off the program by acknowledging the ABC’s political editor, Andrew Probyn, and his producer, Briohny Speed, who were both made redundant today.
Just catching up? Here’s a recap of what happened today in parliament
By Angus Thompson
Dramatic events have played out in parliament this afternoon following independent senator Lidia’s Thorpe’s allegation of “harassment” and “sexual assault” against Liberal senator David Van on the floor of the Senate yesterday, which she later withdrew.
Van has repeatedly and vehemently denied those allegations.
Delivering a lengthy and tearful statement just after midday, Thorpe told the Senate she was cornered by a man in parliament in a stairwell. “No one witnessed what happened in the stairwell as there are no cameras in stairwells,” Thorpe said.
She did not identify the man.
She also said she experienced sexual comments and was “inappropriately propositioned by powerful men”.
Lidia Thorpe, David Van and Peter Dutton.Credit: Alex Ellinghausen
Thorpe said she didn’t go public at the time because she didn’t want to detract from Brittany Higgins’ allegation of being raped in a parliamentary office in March 2019.
Bruce Lehrmann pleaded not guilty to raping Higgins and his trial was aborted last year. He has always maintained his innocence.
Thorpe said she could name multiple people who had inappropriately touched her. She said she wouldn’t go to the police or pursue legal action, but called on the federal government to provide greater security in parliament.
Shortly before 2pm, Opposition Leader Peter Dutton called a press conference to say Van should no longer sit in the Liberal Party room.
“At the outset, I want to make clear, very clear that I’m not making any judgment on the veracity of the allegations or any individual’s guilt or innocence. I make that very clear,” Dutton said.
Van then stood in the Senate to say Thorpe’s allegations were “concocted from beginning to end”.
He said Thorpe’s choice not to go to the police with her allegation was evidence that what she had said was false.
He called for an investigation into Thorpe’s “outrageous claims so they can prove to be false and [I] will fully co-operate with investigators and answer any questions that they might have”.
He said he had acknowledged publicly that he had moved offices after an earlier allegation from Thorpe that he made her feel uncomfortable, however denied inappropriate behaviour.
Immediately after Thorpe spoke, she became involved in a heated exchange with One Nation senator Pauline Hanson, ending in Thorpe telling Hanson to “f--- off”.
Hanson later rose to accuse Thorpe of “crocodile tears” and said parliament was a “safe place”, adding, “I have no qualms with it, and never have”.
Later, the Greens’ leader in the Senate, Larissa Waters, spoke in support of Thorpe, her former party colleague.
She said Thorpe’s statement to parliament reflected what she disclosed to the Greens previously.
“She was greatly distressed,” Waters said.
During question time, Finance Minister Katy Gallagher fought back tears in the Senate in response to repeated questions about her knowledge of Brittany Higgins’ rape allegation ahead of it being publicly aired.
“I am very disappointed that this week, the work that we’ve done on [Sex Discrimination Commissioner Kate] Jenkins, on Respect at Work, on asking women to come forward when something happens to them, and then treating women the way they are being treated right now,” Gallagher said.
ABC cuts 120 jobs, abolishes arts team
By Calum Jaspan
The ABC will cut up to 120 jobs, the broadcaster’s managing director David Anderson told staff in an email this afternoon.
“The changes we are working through are necessary for ABC’s future, but regardless of this I understand change can be challenging, particularly for those directly impacted,” he wrote, adding the ABC faces inflationary pressure and the need to invest in its digital transformation.
ABC Managing Director David Anderson (foreground) with news director Justin Stevens during a Senate estimates hearing in May.Credit: Alex Ellinghausen
Changes at the broadcaster include a “Current Affairs Digital Transformation Project”, a re-vamped national Sunday bulletin and a new climate, environment and energy reporting team.
But the ABC is abolishing its standalone arts team for the first time in its history, including its digital arts editor.
The Media Entertainment and Arts Alliance said the restructure had been “poorly communicated by ABC management, which has caused days of anxiety and anguish for ABC employees”.
Political editor Andrew Probyn is among the redundancies, while NSW state political reporter Ashleigh Raper has been appointed as Network 10’s network political editor, replacing Peter van Onselen.
Long-serving Liberal MP facing preselection challenge
By Rachel Eddie
In case you missed this earlier news, long-serving federal Liberal MP Russell Broadbent will face a preselection challenge in his Gippsland seat of Monash as the party searches for a path forward in Victoria after last year’s wipeout in the state.
Mary Aldred, a respected professional who is head of government relations for Asia Pacific at Fujitsu, and the daughter of former federal MP Ken Aldred, confirmed she would seek preselection for the seat when nominations close on Monday.
Russell Broadbent in parliament in 2021.Credit: Alex Ellinghausen
“I’m honoured to announce that I will be nominating for Liberal Party preselection in the federal seat of Monash,” Aldred posted on social media.
“I’m deeply committed to Monash, having worked for two decades with local community and sporting groups, health organisations and Gippsland businesses. I’ve supported our local MPs and candidates through that time as well.”
Aldred, 40, is viewed as a moderate and was also the former chief executive of the Committee for Gippsland.
Broadbent, 72, has been in federal parliament since 2004, after an earlier stint in the 1990s.
Greens senate leader Larissa Waters commends Thorpe
By Angus Thompson
The Greens’ leader in the Senate, Larissa Waters, has spoken in support of her former party colleague Lidia Thorpe.
“I commend her for speaking out about these issues,” Waters said in the Senate just before 3.30pm.
She said Thorpe’s statement to parliament reflected what she disclosed to the Greens previously.
“She was greatly distressed,” she said.
The Greens’ leader in the Senate, Larissa Waters, speaks in support of former party colleague Lidia Thorpe.Credit: Alex Ellinghausen
Waters said the courage of survivors of sexual assault speaking out led to the Set the Standard report by former Sex Discrimination Commissioner Kate Jenkins.
“Until last week I thought we were making progress,” she said, adding it had been an increasingly distressing week in politics for many people.
She said the behaviour of politicians in parliament this week had validated the concerns of victim-survivors that they will be ignored, lose their jobs, or not be believed should they raise their concerns.
She said the “ultimate test” of whether the toxic culture of parliament had changed was staff and senators felt safe and respected at work.
“This week in question time has been an absolute abomination,” she said.
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2023-06-15 08:11:06Z
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