NSW Labor general secretary Jamie Clements resigns following sexual harassment claims

BILL Shorten intervened yesterday to bring down Labor heavyweight Jamie Clements following a sexual harassment scandal.

Inside story of Labor's phone-banking campaign. Jamie Clements pictured at Labor Campaign headquarters in Parramatta, in West...

SHADOW treasurer Chris Bowen has said a Labor powerbroker has “done the right thing” by resigning in the wake of a sexual harassment scandal. But the man at the centre of the controversy says he has done “nothing wrong”.

NSW Labor’s general secretary Jamie Clements resigned late yesterday after-party heavyweights, including Federal Leader Bill Shorten, urged him to go.

Former Labor candidate and staffer Stefanie Jones had accused Mr Clements of assaulting her at a party function last year.

On Wednesday, she agreed to drop an application for an apprehended violence order against Mr Clements after he signed a formal undertaking that he would not approach her for 12 months, sparing both the Labor Party and its general secretary from a potentially damaging hearing.

Speaking on Channel Nine this morning, Mr Bowen said, “At the end of the day Jamie Clements has done the right thing for the Labor Party so we can move on, focus on a big year, an election year.

Stefanie Jones agreed to drop an application for an AVO against Jamie Clements after he undertook not to approach her for 12 months.

“I’m not going to pretend this isn’t an awful situation for the NSW branch ... but it’s been dealt with,” he said.

In a statement on Thursday, Mr Clements said, “While I have done nothing wrong, I have made this decision in the best interests of the party and my family.”

Mr Clements said a police investigation last year and a separate independent investigation had cleared him of any wrongdoing.

“I agreed to undertakings in order to spare the party, my family and all those involved, a difficult and traumatic legal process,” he said. “Those undertakings were made on a strictly no admissions basis.”

Mr Clements said he had maintained a “dignified silence” throughout the process and was disappointed others had chosen to use the media to “pursue their agenda” — a reference to a newspaper interview Ms Jones’ made where she claimed there was a misogynistic culture in the Labor Party.

“But no individual is bigger than the party which I have served for 18 years and I do not want the party to be distracted from its focus of winning the 2016 federal election,” he said.

Mr Clements’ position had become increasingly untenable yesterday with Labor leaders lining up against him.

Opposition leader Bill Shorten’s intervention yesterday meant Jamie Clements had little choice but to go.

Talking on Thursday, Ms Burney, who is the party’s acting NSW leader while Luke Foley is on holiday, said he had to resign. “This matter needs to be resolved now in the interests of the party and its members,” she said.

Mr Shorten said he had zero tolerance for workplace harassment.

“I decry this behaviour full stop — always have when I’ve stood up for workers in workplaces and the actions which we take,” he told reporters in Tasmania on Thursday.

Mr Clements reportedly met with senior members of the ALP at party headquarters in Sydney yesterday.

According to the Daily Telegraph, he had sought a payout of more than $1 million to leave the powerful position but settled for an amount between $180,000 and $270,000.

Federal government minister Christopher Pyne said Labor had handled the situation poorly, especially compared to the government’s handling of the Jamie Briggs matter.

Mr Briggs resigned just after Christmas following a complaint of inappropriate behaviour from a junior DFAT staffer in Hong Kong.

“In the James Briggs matter — which was seen to be inappropriate — the government acted immediately,” Mr Pyne told Channel Nine.

“It took the correct action, particularly to show that we are totally intolerant of anything that puts women in a lesser position than men whereas the Labor Party in NSW managed to allow this to drag out for some time.”

NSW Labor’s current assistant secretary, Kaila Murnain, is believed to be replacing Mr Clements.