ALP Victorian conference: Hutch Hussein concedes party culture must change

More than 15 Victorian Labor Party members have come forward over harassment and bullying.

Victorian president Hutch Hussein speaks during the final day of the Victorian ALP conference. Picture: Aaron Francis

More than 15 Victorian Labor Party members have come forward to make complaints about sexual harassment and bullying by fellow members, with one alleged perpetrator expelled from the ALP and others suspended, outgoing state president Hutch Hussein has revealed.

In her speech to the party’s state conference on Sunday, Ms Hussein said she was proud of having overseen a new code of conduct, conceding party culture needed to change and giving detailed accounts of complaints about sexual harassment and assault, verbal abuse, spitting in women’s faces, intimidation and standover tactics.

Ms Hussein’s comments come after militant CFMEU boss John Setka resigned from the Labor Party last month amid threats of expulsion, having been convicted of harassing his wife and accused of saying the work of anti-domestic violence campaigner Rosie Batty meant men had fewer rights.

The Australian understands the expelled party member Ms Hussein referred to was not Mr Setka, whose CFMEU colleagues joined in a standing ovation following the party president’s speech.

“This code of conduct, and its corresponding sexual harassment, bullying, discrimination and misconduct policy had its start two and a half years ago,” Ms Hussein said.

“Two brave young women who’d experienced sexual harassment and assault at the hands of other party members came to see me one Sunday afternoon in my loungeroom.

“I know at least one of them is in the room today. I want to acknowledge their courage and thank them for coming forward.

“They experienced hopelessness and despair when there weren’t avenues for them to take action.”

Ms Hussein said the women who came forward could have walked away from the Labor Party, but had instead turned their despair into determination to improve the ALP for others.

She thanked other members who had come forward with other complaints.

“We’ve had just over 15 complainants come forward, and the outcomes have ranged from written apologies, suspensions of membership, and one perpetrator no longer having the privilege of being in our party,” Ms Hussein said.

“This has been an opportunity for the Victorian ALP to show leadership among other state branches as well as among other political parties in an organisational sense, matching the commitment of our government in its firm stance on violence against women in particular.

“We have amazing people in our party and as a party we achieve amazing things, but like any organisation or family, we are not perfect.

“However, unlike our political peers, we don’t just have a code of conduct, but we have processes now to deal with breaches of that code.”

Ms Hussein said the Victorian ALP had accepted that there are times when it falls “well short of living our Labor values, and there needs to be consequences for that.”

“Having sought the permission of the complainants, I want to cite some examples of some of the ways certain party members have fallen short of living those Labor values,” Ms Hussein said.

“A young man, who thought it would be OK to verbally abuse another young woman in front of others on a campaign bus, shouting so aggressively that he was spitting in her face;

“The four women who dreaded any phone, email or face contact with a branch member because he constantly left them shaking with fear and tears when he lost his temper and verbally abused them or made intimidatory threats constituting bullying;

“Or the young man who continually told another woman, ‘I own you’, because he had introduced her to the ALP, so much so that when she gained an electorate officer role, he insisted that she provide him with her earnings in full.

“He continually threatened to make public messages and photos of her if she did something he disagreed with, saying it would be career and political suicide for her if she did otherwise.”

Ms Hussein said two other women had come forward with similar complaints about the same man.

She said having a policy was the “first step” towards eradicating harassment and bullying.

“Fostering the necessary cultural change to ensure complainants feel comfortable coming forward, as well as to prevent these matters of misconduct occurring in the first place, requires collective effort, as does changing the culture, and we are doing that,” Ms Hussein said.

“I want us to be a party where it’s not the victims who suffer and leave after a negative experience, but it’s the perpetrators who suffer the consequences and leave if necessary.

“Ultimately we want to change behaviour and have people recognise that they won’t get away with this in our party.

“To do this, we need your help. We need each of you to pledge that you too will speak up, stand up and call out inappropriate behaviour.”

Ms Hussein thanked men who had “stood in solidarity” with female party members as witnesses or additional complainants.

“They’ve spoken up, they’ve taken a stand and they’ve called out inappropriate behaviour of their male comrades,” she said.

“This is how we’re going to change the culture, when we call out behaviour inconsistent with out party’s values.”

“We still have much to do. This is an important start and I look forward to your collaboration so we can fully aim to be a party that provides safe and inclusive work spaces, not just for the workers who we represent, but the members that we represent.”