Van demon: Fresh sexual misconduct claims against expelled Liberal senator
Further allegations of inappropriate conduct have been raised against Senator David Van after two female parliamentarians accused him of improper sexual behaviour.
Opposition Leader Peter Dutton said he had raised an additional allegation with Senator Van in making the decision to expel him from the Liberal party room.
Independent senator Lidia Thorpe on Wednesday, under parliamentary privilege, accusedĀ Senator Van of harassment and sexual assault, allegations he strongly denied.
Former Liberal senator Amanda Stoker on Thursday accused Senator Van of inappropriately touching her at a 2020 event.
Asked on Friday if he was aware of further allegations against the now-crossbench senator,Ā Mr Dutton replied: āYes.ā
āI raised another allegation with Senator Van, but Iām not going to comment in relation to those matters otherwise,ā he told Nineās Today program.
āI made a decision yesterday based on all of the information that was available to me ā¦ thatās a decision I donāt regret at all.
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āI believe it is in the best interests of the Liberal Party and thatās what I have acted upon and I donāt want Senator Van sitting in our party room.Ā I have made that clear.ā
Mr Dutton said the alleged behaviour was unacceptable.
āThe thought of sexual assault against any woman in the workplace is not something that I would tolerate,ā he said.
āItās been an issue in the press gallery, been an issue in Parliament House and obviously ā¦Ā Iāve referred the matters to that independent workplace authority for investigation.ā
In a statement, Ms Stoker said Senator VanĀ āinappropriately touched me at an informal social gathering in a parliamentary officeā in November 2020.
āHe did so by squeezing my bottom twice,ā she said.
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āBy its nature and by its repetition, it was not accidental.
āThat action was not appropriate. It was unprofessional and uninvited.ā
Senator Van said he had no recollection of the incident, telling News.com.au he had a āfriendlyā chat with Ms Stoker after her complaint and he would never have inappropriately touched her.
Van said in a statement he was āutterly shatteredā by the events of the past few days and was stunned his reputation could be āso wantonly savaged without due process or accountabilityā.
āI will fully cooperate with whatever process Mr Dutton proposes to determine these matters as quickly and fairly as possible,ā he said.
āWhile I understand the public interest is high, I will not be making any more public statements on the allegations until a proper examination of these claims is concluded.ā
Ms Stokerās allegation made on Thursday refers to an incident in November 2020, where she said Senator Van inappropriately touched her at an informal social gathering at Parliament House.
Ms Stoker said she held a meeting following the alleged incident and had accepted Senator Vanās apology.
She said while she wanted the incident to be kept confidential, she said that view was āno longer tenableā in the wake of Senator Thorpeās statement.
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