Australian opposition party expels senator over sexual misconduct allegations
- Senator David Van was expelled from the conservative Liberal Party after allegations by independent Senator Lidia Thorpe of harassment and sexual assault
- He has also yet to respond to a statement from former Liberal Party Senator Amanda Stoker that said Van had apologised for ‘squeezing my bottom twice’
Australia’s main opposition party expelled a senator on Thursday after a female senator accused him of sexual assault and a former senator said he squeezed her buttocks, in the latest evidence of a toxic culture in Parliament House that is hostile to women.
Opposition leader Peter Dutton said he expelled Senator David Van from the conservative Liberal Party following allegations made in Parliament on Wednesday night by independent Senator Lidia Thorpe of harassment and sexual assault. Van remains a senator, but no longer represents the Liberal Party.
Van denied the allegations, which were made under parliamentary privilege, under which no one can be sued for defamation over anything said in the Senate.
But he has yet to respond to the statement that followed from former Liberal Party Senator Amanda Stoker that said Van had apologised for ‘’squeezing my bottom twice” at Parliament House.
“I would have preferred that the matter be resolved privately and finally – as I thought it was. However, following Sen. Thorpe’s allegations, it is now clear that is no longer tenable,” Stoker said.
Political leaders apologised last year to staffers who have endured decades of bullying, harassment and sexual assault inside Parliament House which were exposed by an investigation by the national sex discrimination commissioner.