David Van
On Friday, Australia’s main opposition Liberal Party leader urged a senator to resign on Friday after female senators accused him of sexual misconduct, which he denies.
The allegations against Liberal Party Senator David Van follow numerous prior complaints about the culture in Australia’s parliament house, which resulted in an inquiry in 2021 that found one in every three persons working there had experienced sexual harassment.
Independent senator Lidia Thorpe accused Van of sexually assaulting her during the previous parliamentary term, which Van rejected and Thorpe later withdrew to conform with Senate regulations prohibiting attacks on someone’s character.
Following Thorpe’s remarks, former Liberal senator Amanda Stoker issued a statement claiming that Van improperly touched her in 2020 at a party by pinching her buttocks twice.
A third complaint has surfaced against Senator Van, according to the opposition Liberal Party leader Peter Dutton, who spoke to the media on Friday without providing further details.
Mr. Dutton said, “The membership of the party is an issue for the party to resolve (but) I think it’s in everyone’s best interest that he resigns from the parliament, and I hope he is able to do that sooner rather than later”.
Dutton stated that his decision was not based on Van’s guilt or innocence and that the case had been forwarded to the parliament’s workplace authority for inquiry.
Senator Van described himself as ‘utterly shattered’ and ‘stunned that my good reputation can be so wantonly savaged’.
In a statement, Van said, “I will fully cooperate with whatever process Mr. Dutton proposes to determine these matters as quickly and fairly as possible”.
A high-profile case involving a former government adviser accused of sexually assaulting a colleague in parliament rocked then-Prime Minister Scott Morrison’s Liberal-led government, which struggled to appease public outrage ahead of a general election amid reports of sexual abuse, discrimination, and misconduct in parliament. Morrison was defeated in the election last May.
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