Lidia Thorpe has withdrawn an accusation made in parliament of sexual assault against senator David Van, a claim which Van said he ‘utterly rejected’. Subscribe to Guardian Australia on YouTube and hit the bell to see new videos ► http://bit.ly/gdnaustraliasubs
After making the initial claim, Thorpe returned to the chamber to say she was withdrawing the remarks in order to comply with Senate standing orders. Van was speaking in the Senate about the sex discrimination commissioner’s Setting the Standard report, when Thorpe first made repeated interjections, saying she was ‘feeling really uncomfortable when a perpetrator is speaking about violence’.
She added: ‘I can’t [withdraw], because this person harassed me, sexually assaulted me. And the prime minister had to remove him from his office.’ Van then responded: ‘I utterly reject that statement, that disgusting statement outright. It is just a lie. And I reject it … it’s just not true’. Van then withdrew the word ‘lie’, adding ‘it is just not true’
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