SYDNEY: A senator from Australia’s major opposition Liberal Party has resigned from the party but will continue serving in parliament after being accused of sexual misconduct by numerous female lawmakers, the senator’s office announced on Sunday.
The allegations against Senator David Van of the Liberal Party come in the wake of a 2021 investigation into the culture of Australia’s parliament house, which showed that one in three employees there had experienced sexual harassment.
Van, who denies the allegations, wrote to the leader of the Liberal Party’s Victorian branch to announce his intention to resign from the organisation right now.
Van stated in the communication, which was confirmed by a senator’s spokeswoman, “I cannot remain a member of a party that tramples upon the very premise on which our justice system is predicated.” Reuters obtained a copy of the correspondence.
Van will continue to serve as an independent senator in parliament, according to the spokeswoman.
Following independent Senator Lidia Thorpe’s use of parliamentary privilege to say she was sexually abused during the previous parliamentary term, which Van promptly rejected, Liberal Party leader Peter Dutton urged Van to quit on Friday.
Following Thorpe’s remarks, former Liberal senator Amanda Stoker claimed that Van had touched her indecently by twice pinching her bottom at a party in 2020.
Senator Van is now the target of a third accusation, Dutton informed the media on Friday.
Van said last week that he was “utterly shattered” and “stunned that my good reputation can be so wantonly savaged”.
The dispute comes after the high-profile case of a former government aide accused of sexually assaulting a colleague in parliament house in 2019 upset the Liberal-led administration of former Prime Minister Scott Morrison.
