Lidia Thorpe sensationally withdraws sexual assault claim against David Van.
He said Ms Thorpe raised allegations then ‘through her leadership to our leadership’ that Mr Van closely ‘followed her into the chamber’ one day back in 2021, and that left her feeling ‘uncomfortable’.
Mr Van said bumping into her in the corridors of parliament as they made their way into the Senate was unavoidable given the proximity of their offices.
‘At times I’ve been in front of her, at times I have been behind her, but at no time did I harass her… I barely even said hello.’
To have an allegation like this made against you is the most awful thing that’s happened to me in my life. I would feel less bad if she had accused me of murder rather than this,’ he said.
The Victorian senator said he’s hardly slept, and likely ‘a bit shaky’ after spending much of the night in tears over the extraordinary incident.
‘I just feel battered,’ he said.
While he was shocked when Ms Thorpe levelled the accusation against him under parliamentary privilege, Mr Van said this goes back to an incident in 2021. Lidia Thorpe has sensationally withdrawn allegations that a Liberal senator “sexually assaulted” her just hours after the claim sparked uproar in parliament.
Senator Thorpe withdrew the remarks last night following the intervention of the Senate President.
“Earlier today I made some comments in relation to another Senator,” she said.“For the information of the Senate I will make a further statement on the matter tomorrow.”
In extraordinary scenes on Wednesday, Senator Thorpe interrupted Senator Van’s speech reflecting on the handling of Brittany Higgins’ text leaks.
“I just want to relay that I’m feeling really uncomfortable when a perpetrator is speaking about violence,’’ she said.
“This person harassed me, sexually assaulted me, and the prime minister had to remove him from his office,” she said.
“And to have him talking about this today is an absolute disgrace! On the whole party!”
Sen. Thorpe spoke up about the two-year-old encounter after Sen. Van made a statement about the handling of Brittany Higgins’ sexual assault complaint.
She told the Senate under parliamentary privilege: ‘I just want to relay I’m feeling really uncomfortable when a perpetrator is speaking about violence…’
‘This person harassed me, sexually assaulted me, and the prime minister had to remove him from his office.
‘And to have him talking about this today is an absolute disgrace! On the whole party.’
Sen. Thorpe returned to the Senate four hours later to qualify her claims about Mr Van’s behaviour, noting she was doing so at the request of the president Sue Lines.
She’s expected to make a further statement on Thursday.
Sen. Van categorically denied the allegations – immediately afterward in the Senate, several hours later in a media statement and again this morning on 2GB.
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