Former Liberal senator Amanda Stoker has accused Senator David Van of inappropriately touching her at a social event at parliament house in 2020.
Stoker alleged that Van squeezed her bottom at the social event, behaviour she said was “unprofessional and uninvited”.
“In November 2020 Senator Van inappropriately touched me at an informal social gathering in a parliamentary office,’’ Ms Stoker said.
“He did so by squeezing my bottom twice. By its nature and by its repetition, it was not accidental.
“That action was not appropriate. It was unprofessional and uninvited.”
On Thursday night, Van told the media that he had no recollection of the incident that Stoker alleged happened three years ago.
Stoker’s statement on Thursday came after Opposition Leader Peter Dutton made the decision to remove Van from the Liberal Party room.
“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. As such, 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 room,” Dutton said.
Stoker’s claims come in addition to the allegations made this week by independent senator Lidia Thorpe, who used parliamentary privilege on Wednesday to accuse Van of “harassment” and “sexual assault”. Van vehemently denied the allegations and rejects any wrongdoing.
Thorpe later withdrew her comments to adhere to Senate standing orders, but made another statement on Thursday where she claimed she had been cornered by a man in a stairwell in parliament house. She did not name this man.
Thorpe also said she had been “followed, aggressively propositioned and inappropriately touched” in parliament.
Stoker said she had initially wanted to keep her allegations confidential, having previously dealt with it through internal processes, but decided to come forward publicly after hearing Senator Thorpe’s statement.
“I believe all women should be free from unwanted advances and confident to speak up immediately and be respected for doing so,” Stoker said.
“I promptly advised a senior female colleague about the incident, and of the action I had taken. I did so to ensure that if there were any other incidents of which I was not aware, or any future reports, they could be dealt with appropriately.
“Obviously, this was not a good experience. I took it very seriously but did not want his misbehaviour to define me or any other woman. I simply wanted to ensure his behaviour was never repeated. So I used the internal process for his behaviour to be addressed, whilst asking for it to be kept confidential. I would have preferred that the matter be resolved privately and finally – as I thought it was.
“However, following Senator Thorpe’s allegations, it is now clear that is no longer tenable.”
Speaking to ABC radio on Friday morning, Senator Thorpe said it had been a horrible 48 hours.
“It wasn’t until a white woman stood up and said ‘yeah, this happened to me too’ that the media took notice. That is a great example of the media landscape in this country and that is systemic racism,” Senator Thorpe said.
“I was questioned. I was absolutely demonised that day, by everybody. And you wonder why women don’t speak out. You wonder why we are silenced. It’s because of that kind of behaviour.”