SYDNEY (Reuters) – An Australian senator on Thursday said she was followed, aggressively propositioned and inappropriately touched by another senator in parliament house, and called on the government to make the building safer for women.
In a tearful address in parliament, independent senator Lidia Thorpe said she has decided not to pursue legal action or make a police complaint on the matter, and did not identify any person responsible for the conduct in her speech.
“I experienced sexual comments and was inappropriately propositioned by powerful men,” Thorpe told the Senate, where her comments are protected by parliamentary privilege.
She said one man had followed her into a stairwell, where there were no witnesses or security cameras.
“There are different understandings of what amounts to sexual assault. What I experienced was being followed, aggressively propositioned and inappropriately touched,” Thorpe told the Senate.
Thorpe made the comments on Thursday, after the previous day accusing Liberal Party senator David Van of harassing and sexually assaulting her during the previous parliamentary term.
Van had immediately denied the accusations on Wednesday. Thorpe later withdrew them, saying it was to comply with Senate rules preventing comments on someone’s character.
On Thursday, Thorpe said she would speak about her experience and did not name Van or say when the incidents occurred.
In a statement in the Senate following Thorpe’s speech, Van said the claims were “outrageous”, and denied all of them again.
“I will fully cooperate with the investigators and answer any questions that they may have of me and Senator Thorpe should do the same,” Van said.
Liberal Party leader Peter Dutton said in a statement that further allegations in relation to Van had been brought to his attention and Van would be excluded from party meetings.
Dutton said the decision was not a reflection on Van’s guilt or innocence, and Van remains a member of the Senate.
Thorpe’s claims follow numerous reports of sexual abuse and misconduct in parliament, which led to an independent inquiry into parliamentary workplace culture which found one in three people working there had experienced sexual harassment.
“I know there are others that have experienced similar things and have not come forward in the interest of their careers and in fear that they would be presented to the world by the media in the same way that I have been today,” Thorpe said.
(Reporting by Praveen Menon; editing by Lincoln Feast)
