This was published 1 year ago
Senator David Van resigns from Liberal Party
Senator David Van has resigned from the Liberal Party amid an internal push to force him out of federal parliament over allegations of misconduct.
Van wrote to Victorian Liberal Party president Greg Mirabella on Saturday night to resign from the party, saying he was deeply distressed and hurt that he had not been afforded procedural fairness over the claims.
Van has been accused by at least three women, including independent senator Lidia Thorpe and former Liberal senator Amanda Stoker, of inappropriate behaviour. The Victorian senator denies the allegations.
Van’s resignation came less than 24 hours before senior members of the party’s organisational wing were to meet to discuss how to force him out of the party.
In the letter, Van said he was resigning from the party but gave no indication he would be leaving the Senate.
“Given the Liberal Party’s wholesale disregard for due process and natural justice in relation to allegations made against me, I write to resign my membership effective immediately,” he said in the letter.
“I cannot remain a member of a party that tramples upon the very premise on which our justice system is predicated. This is a travesty of justice and I reiterate that I deny the allegations made against me.
“I resign also acknowledging the cruel irony of doing so amidst public discourse about the weaponisation of allegations and the role of the rule of law, which has at its centre the presumption of innocence.
“I am deeply distressed and hurt that I have not been afforded procedural fairness in relation to these claims.
“I acknowledge the hundreds of members who have shown me support in my final days as a member. I am grateful for their belief in my honesty and integrity. I have worked tirelessly for the party and fought hard for its beliefs over many years.
“I will continue to fight for what I thought were the party’s values – just not under its banner.”
The director of the Victorian Liberal Party, Stuart Smith, said in a statement: “This evening I received from Senator David Van a letter of resignation from the Liberal Party.”
The Victorian party’s administrative committee was to meet on Sunday to discuss how to force Van out of federal parliament and the party, after federal Opposition Leader Peter Dutton removed the senator from the party room last week and called on him to resign from the Senate.
Multiple MPs earlier said there was unanimous support inside the federal party room for Dutton’s position.
Allegations against Van surfaced publicly on Wednesday when independent senator Lidia Thorpe accused him in parliament of harassing and sexually assaulting her. She later withdrew the comments to comply with Senate rules.
Van on Thursday accused the former Greens senator of concocting her allegations and “cowering under the umbrella of parliamentary privilege to make her claim”.
Thorpe returned to the Senate on the same day to say an unnamed man had cornered her in a stairwell, and alleged that during her time in parliament, she had been “aggressively propositioned and inappropriately touched”.
Former Liberal senator Amanda Stoker released a statement on Thursday night saying Van “inappropriately touched me at an informal social gathering in a parliamentary office” in November 2020.
“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,” she said.
There is a third allegation against Van, but the person does not want the matter to be public.
Mirabella, the state president of the party, said on Friday night that he wanted to consider whatever evidence was available, including from Stoker, before a decision was made.
“Amanda has not made those allegations to me; I only know what I’ve read in a newspaper,” he said.
“And one thing I’m very conscious of is I don’t want to be accused of running a kangaroo court.”
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