Former Liberal MP Julia Banks has described entering federal politics as like stepping back to the 1980s, alleging an unnamed senior cabinet minister touched her inappropriately at Parliament House.

The one-time Chisholm MP has used a new book, Power Play: Breaking Through Bias, Barriers and Boys’ Clubs, to allege sleazy treatment by men in Canberra, including alleging that a colleague put his hand on her inner thigh and up her leg in an “astoundingly brazen” act.