Independent senator Lidia Thorpe has in parliament accused Victorian Liberal senator David Van of “harassing” and “sexually assaulting” her.
The allegation was made by Thorpe soon after Senate question time on Wednesday as Van made a speech accusing the Labor Party of disgraceful behaviour in its handling of the Brittany Higgins sexual assault allegations.
“Even yesterday and today the muck that has been thrown from that side [Labor] to this side [Liberal] senators [Michaelia] Cash and [Linda] Reynolds is really just not on and makes a mockery of your words,” he said.As Van speaks, Thorpe can be heard interjecting and calling out the word “perpetrator” and “You can talk! You can talk! You know what you were doing around this time, you know what you were doing around this time don’t you Van? You got away with a lot.
Then the former Greens senator rose on a point of order and said: “I’m feeling really uncomfortable when a perpetrator is speaking about violence”.Thorpe said: “I can’t because this person harassed me, sexually assaulted me and the prime minister had to remove him from his office [relocate offices within parliament].Lidia Thorpe made her accusation against David Van in the Senate on Wednesday.
Van then rose to his feet and said: “I utterly reject that statement, that disgusting statement outright. It is just a lie and I reject it”.Cut through the noise of federal politics with news, views and expert analysis from Jacqueline Maley. Subscribers can sign up to our weekly
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