Ex-MP Emma Husar says Labor Party ‘abandoned her’
Former Labor MP Emma Husar claims the party gave her no choice but to leave Sydney as she struggled to find work after being dumped, as speculation mounts she now set for a stint on reality TV.
NSW
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DUMPED Labor MP Emma Husar claims she was forced to flee Sydney and start a new life away from her children in Perth after she was “abandoned” by the Labor Party.
The former federal MP, who was told to give up her Western Sydney seat amid allegations of bullying and sexual harassment in the office, said she has been unable to find work and was constantly recognised after her high-profile exit from politics.
“I was compelled to move because the Labor Party completely abandoned any duty of care,” Ms Husar told The Sunday Telegraph.
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“I don’t think I had any choice … I would have loved to have stayed around the community that I’ve been with for nearly 40 years.”
But The Sunday Telegraph understands her work drought might be about to end with TV industry sources revealing Ms Husar will join a slew of stars on a new military-training reality show called SAS: Who Dares Wins — due to air later in the year — that sees contestants undertake physical and psychological challenges under the orders of an ex-Special Forces soldier.
Other well-known Australians believed to be taking part in the new show include Jackson Warne, son of Shane Warne and former ironwoman Candice Warner.
Husar, 40, refused to confirm whether she was one of 14 celebrity contestants, simply saying she was “working on a project for the end of the year”.
One week from the Eden-Monaro by-election, Ms Husar also hit out at Opposition Leader Anthony Albanese, claiming he promised her the Labor Party would apologise after she was cleared of allegations of sexually harassing her employees.
“I saw him (Albo) shortly after he became the leader of the opposition … and that meeting ended with him, assuring me that when Labor got a new General Secretary, from that I would be given an apology and I would be supported.”
“He wants to be prime minister and he wants millions of people to vote for him and he wants them to believe him but how can you believe a man who says he’ll get me an apology and look after and then the party does nothing?”
“They said they would help me and no one ever did … they just burnt me and left me there to die. What I went through almost killed me.”
When asked about the alleged meeting, Mr Albanese, who wasn’t leader when Ms Husar was in Parliament, said he “doesn’t talk about private conversations”.
While Ms Husar was cleared of sexual harassment and lewd conduct, an inquiry found she subjected staff to unreasonable management, including disciplinary methods.
Despite her tumultuous experience, the mother-of-three refused to rule out a political comeback in the future but said it would need to be on her own terms.
“I’d have to go back on my own terms and you can’t do that in a party structure like the Labor Party where it’s so reliant on power for power’s sake … there are too many of them who are relentlessly focused on that pursuit of power that it makes it impossible for people like me who were completely naive to come in and to have any chance, particularly when you are young and energetic and you come at it from a different perspective,” she said.