Senator Lucy Gichuhi says she will name Liberal MPs that allegedly bullied her
LIBERAL politicians that allegedly bullied South Australian Senator Lucy Gichuhi during the chaotic leadership spill will be named under parliamentary privilege.
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LIBERAL politicians that allegedly bullied South Australian Senator Lucy Gichuhi during the chaotic leadership spill will be named under parliamentary privilege.
Senator Gichuhi, speaking on ABC on Monday night, said Coalition colleagues were in tears because of the “widespread” culture of intimidation.
Asked if she would be prepared to name under parliamentary privilege the people at the centre of the alleged bullying, Senator Gichuhi said: “Absolutely”.
“I will detail my experience not only with the PM’s spill because this is a culture, this is a systematic kind of issue,” she said.
“The minute you have to tow the party line you are already intimidated, you are no longer using your free will.”
Senator Gichuhi has called for a formal structure to resolve the party’s workplace conflicts, stating she was told to complain to the state president of the Liberals.
She also revealed that, during her June preselection for the Liberal Party Senate ticket, she was asked if she thought Malcolm Turnbull was the right person to take the party to election by a preselector she has now calculated was opposed to the former PM.
“For that question to arise then, something was already happening I guess,” Senator Gichuhi said.
The Kenyan-born politician was then relegated to the unwinnable fourth position on the Liberal Party Senate ticket at the upcoming federal election.
She criticised the conservative faction’s “culture”, which she said used religion to influence who and how elected members should vote.
“Christianity, the one that I know, does not intimidate, does not harass, does not control, does not fight for power in that kind of way,” she said.
Senator Gichuhi said during the leadership spill she laid in bed and hoped she didn’t wake up for fear of media reports about the saga.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison is refusing to say whether Liberal MPs accused of bullying will be publicly named and shamed.
Victorian Liberal MP Julia Banks cited instances of bullying and intimidation by Liberal MPs when announcing her resignation last week.
SA Senator Simon Birmingham has called for Ms Banks’s bullying and intimidation claims to be “thoroughly investigated” and said he expected party whips and presiding officers would address such matters.
Mr Morrison is now working with Minister for Women Kelly O’Dwyer and Chief Whip Nola Marino to investigate the claims.