Opposition leader Peter Dutton has expelled Victorian senator David Van from the Liberal party room, after more claims followed sensational allegations by crossbencher Lidia Thorpe that he had harassed and sexually assaulted her.
Dutton said on Thursday: “Since the airing of Senator Thorpe’s allegation yesterday, further allegations in relation to Senator Van have been brought to my attention overnight and this morning.
"I met with Senator Van this morning and a short time ago, I advised Senator Van of my decision that he should no longer sit in the Liberal Party party room.”
Dutton said he was not judging “the veracity of the allegations or any individual’s guilt or innocence”. He has referred the allegations to the Parliamentary Workplace Support Service.
Sky has reported that a former Liberal senator had said Van groped her at a drinks function about three years ago. Dutton had spoken to the woman before acting against Van, Sky said.
Thorpe initially made her claims on Wednesday in interjections when Van was speaking about behaviour in parliament. Van immediately categorically denied her claims. Thorpe, in a tearful statement to the Senate, followed up on Thursday, but without naming Van.
Van will now sit on the crossbench. Dutton’s action does not expel him from the Liberal Party at large.
Van told the Senate after the Dutton announcement: “There should be and must be an investigation into these outrageous claims so that they can be proved to be false.” He said he would fully cooperate with investigators.
Earlier Thorpe, who was formerly a member of the Greens party, told the Senate she had “experienced sexual comments, and was inappropriately propositioned by powerful men. One man followed me and cornered me in a stairwell.
"There are different understandings of what amounts to sexual assault. 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.
"It was to the degree that I had to be accompanied by someone whenever I walked inside this building. That is how the Greens supported me and I thank them for that. To me it was sexual assault, and the [Coalition] government at the time recognised it as such.”
She said that at the time she spoke to the president of the Senate. “I spoke to senior leaders in the Liberal Party and was assured the Prime Minister [Scott Morrison] was informed.
"At the time I was convinced that the government believed me. Their actions in immediately moving the person’s office reassured me that they understood the seriousness of what I experienced.”
On radio, interviewed before Dutton’s statement, Van confirmed he had moved offices after a complaint by Thorpe.
He told 2GB Thorpe had alleged to the then government leadership through the Greens leadership “that I was following her into the chamber, which made her feel uncomfortable”.
He denied anything untoward in his behaviour, saying “that’s just the way we file into the chamber when there are divisions. At times, I’ve been in front of her, at times I’ve been behind her, but at no time did I harass her, touch her, barely even said hello.”