Australian opposition party expels Senator David Van over sexual misconduct allegations

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Clear skies above the Australian Federal Parliament in Canberra, Australia, May 8, 2012. Photo by Andrew Taylor/REUTERS

CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — 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 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 Van remains a senator, but no longer represents the Liberal Party.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 for anything said in the Senate.

He also dismissed a statement that followed from former Liberal Party senator Amanda Stoker that Van had apologized for “twice squeezing my butt” in parliament.

“I would have preferred the matter to be resolved privately and ultimately – as I thought. However, following Senator Thorpe’s allegations, it is now clear that this is no longer tenable,” Stoker said.

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Van said he wouldn’t have touched Stoker’s butt on purpose.

“I can confirm that I had a very friendly and open discussion with my colleague a few years ago about this and made it clear that I had no recollection of such an event, and I can confirm that it’s not something I would ever do,” Van told News. Corp.

Political leaders apologized last year to staff members who endured decades of intimidation, harassment and sexual assault inside parliament, which was revealed by an investigation by the National Commissioner for sexual discrimination.

The investigation was sparked by a staff member’s allegation that she was raped while intoxicated by a colleague in a minister’s office in 2019.

The staffer accused the Conservative government at the time of treating her rape allegation as a political issue and dissuading her from complaining to the police.

Thorpe told the Senate on Thursday that Van harassed her around the time the staffer’s complaints attracted national media attention two years ago.

The previous administration had agreed to Thorpe’s request to move Van to another office to reduce their interaction on foot to and from the Senate.

The Associated Press does not normally identify alleged victims of sexual assault, but Thorpe made the accusations publicly.

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Thorpe said Van groped her in a stairwell where there were no security cameras.

“There are different interpretations of what amounts to sexual assault. What I experienced was followed, aggressively offered and inappropriately touched,” Thorpe told the Senate in tears.

She said she would not complain to the police or sue in civil court, but had complained to the Independent Parliamentary Workplace Support Service, which handles workplace complaints.

Van hailed the service’s investigation into what he described as “scandalous allegations.”

“Senator Thorpe’s allegations are concocted from start to finish. Nothing she alleged about me is true,” Van told the Senate.

There is a tendency for Australian male lawmakers to use sexist and abusive behavior to undermine their female opponents.

Dutton did not mention Stoker but suggested Thorpe’s allegations were not the only reason Van was kicked out of the party.

“Since the airing of Senator Thorpe’s allegation yesterday, other allegations regarding Senator Van have come to my attention overnight this morning,” Dutton told reporters.

“I make no judgment on the veracity of the allegations or the guilt or innocence of any individual. I make that very clear. Obviously there is an independent process with the Parliamentary Workplace Support Service to start “, said Dutton.

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