Australian Liberal Senator David Van has been dumped from the Opposition party room following allegations by Independent Senator Lidia Thorpe and former Liberal Senator Amanda Stoker, and another unnamed individual that Van had sexually assaulted them.
“I raised another allegation with Senator Van, but I’m not going to comment in relation to those matters otherwise,” Dutton told Nine’s Today program on Friday.
“I made a decision yesterday based on all of the information that was available to me ... that’s a decision I don’t regret at all.
“I believe it is in the best interests of the Liberal Party, and that’s what I have acted upon, and I don’t want Senator Van sitting in our party room. I have made that clear.”
The swift action follows Wednesday afternoon’s revelation, under parliamentary privilege, by Thorpe of allegations about harassment and sexual assault by Van, a claim that Van has rejected.
The situation took place when Van was speaking in the upper House about the rape allegations of former Liberal staffer Brittany Higgins. Thorpe interjected, saying she felt “really uncomfortable when a perpetrator is speaking about violence.”
She called Van a “perpetrator.”
“I can’t because this person harassed me, sexually assaulted me, and the prime minister had to remove him from his office.
“And to have him talking about this today is an absolute disgrace on the whole party.”
“That action was not appropriate. It was unprofessional and uninvited.
“I utterly reject that statement, that disgusting statement, outright. It is just a lie, and I reject it,” he said.
“I withdraw the word lie. It is just not true.”
Senate deputy president Andrew McLachlan asked Thorpe to stop several times and to withdraw the “inappropriate” comment.
Thorpe later backtracked on the comment to comply with Senate rules but said she would make a statement on the matter on Thursday.
Meanwhile, Van released a statement on Wednesday to deny the accusations.
“In the chamber today, Senator Thorpe made unfounded and completely untrue allegations against me that I immediately and unequivocally denied and continue to deny,” he said.
“These outrageous and reprehensible comments were made by Senator Thorpe using parliamentary privilege in the most malicious and despicable way.”
“My lawyers have written to her already, making my position clear in the strongest possible terms.”
On Thursday in her speech on Thursday, Senator Thorpe said she was followed and then cornered in a stairwell by a senator at Parliament House before she was “aggressively propositioned and inappropriately touched.” She did not imply that Van had been involved in this incident.
“There are different understandings of what amounts to sexual assault ... to me, it was sexual assault,” she told the senate.
“I was afraid to walk out of the office door. I would open the door slightly and check the coast was clear before stepping out.
Van Says Allegations Concocted
Following the incident, Opposition Leader Peter Dutton said he had told the Victorian senator earlier on Thursday he was no longer welcome in the party room.“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,” Dutton said.
Thorpe said she would not proceed with legal action over the incident or report it to the police.
“This is my choice, but I will continue to speak out against the abuse and harassment that happens in this building,” she said.
“I want to focus on making this place safe for everyone, and at this moment, it is not a safe place for women.”
Van told parliament on Thursday that Thorpe’s accusations were “concocted from beginning to end.” He said making false allegations in the upper house was “disgraceful” and “brings the Senate into disrepute.”
“Nothing that she has alleged of me is truthful. No such exchange occurred between us,” he said.
“There is no interaction that could conceivably resemble what she described today.
But Van accepted he would no longer sit in the Liberal party room.
“I do not wish this matter to stay in the Liberal Party that I fought so hard for,” he said.
Senator Van said an investigation into Senator Thorpe’s claims was warranted, and he was willing to cooperate with it.
“Senator Thorpe should do the same.”
