Van refuses to quit over sexual harassment allegations but will take leave

Newly independent senator David Van is staring down calls to quit federal politics following accusations of sexual harassment, but will take leave and miss the final week of sitting before the winter break.

Van’s decision to take leave is for health reasons and means he will miss the final vote on the Voice to parliament legislation on Monday morning. His absence will not change the outcome of the vote.

Senator David Van has stared down calls for him to quit parliament. Credit: Alex Ellinghausen

Last week, Opposition Leader Peter Dutton kicked the Victorian senator out of the Liberal party room after allegations of sexual harassment were made against Van by independent Lidia Thorpe under parliamentary privilege. Van has strenuously denied those claims.

Those allegations were followed by former Liberal National Party senator Amanda Stoker coming forward to claim Van had squeezed her bottom.

Dutton said he was also aware of a third complaint against Van from a woman, who has not come forward, and said Van should “resign from the parliament sooner [rather] than later and seek the help that he needs”.

That call to quit was backed by senior Liberals including Simon Birmingham, Marise Payne, Anne Ruston and Michaelia Cash.

“I’ve been here for 14 years. I hear a lot of rumours”: Nationals senator Bridget McKenzie.Credit: Alex Ellinghausen

Van resigned from the Liberal Party on Saturday citing a “wholesale disregard for due process and natural justice in relation to allegations made against me” and denied all allegations against him.

He confirmed on Sunday “I won’t be in parliament this week”.

Van’s spokesman said the senator planned to return to parliament after the five-week winter break, which begins on Friday, and hopes a Parliamentary Workplace Support Service inquiry will be able to help clear his name.

Van cannot be forced to quit the parliament – he must choose to resign. It is understood the senator has no intentions of doing that at this stage.

The allegations against Van surfaced after days of the opposition pursuing Finance Minister Katy Gallagher over whether she had misled parliament when she claimed not to know about former Liberal staffer Brittany Higgins’ rape allegation ahead of a television interview.

This masthead has been told the federal government does not plan to pursue the opposition over the allegations made against Van when parliament resumes.

Nationals Senate leader Bridget McKenzie said on Sunday she had been aware of rumours about Van’s behaviour but had not acted as she did not have first-hand information about them.

“I wasn’t aware of any specific allegations at all, but as always in this place [Parliament House], and the media would be well aware of this, there are rumours from time to time about certain individuals ... I wasn’t aware of the Amanda Stoker allegation,” she told the ABC’s Insiders program.

“I’ve been here for 14 years. I hear a lot of rumours and if I acted on every single one of them, that would not result in the best outcome. ”

McKenzie said she disagreed with fellow Nationals frontbencher Barnaby Joyce that Thorpe should not have made her allegations against Van in the Senate chamber.

“Parliamentary privilege is a powerful and very careful part of our democracy and senators across the ages have used it in very powerful ways to raise claims and matters of public interest,” she said.

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