Senator says sexually assaulted by 'powerful men' in Aus Parliament

The accused was expelled by his party but remains a senator

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. Van remains a senator, but no longer represents the Liberal Party.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.

Thorpe described her experiences saying, “What I experienced was being followed, aggressively propositioned and inappropriately touched,” she said. “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,” she told lawmakers.

“It was to the degree that I had to be accompanied by someone whenever I walked inside this building,” she added.