Greens in crisis on women and violence

Greens NSW has joined calls for embattled MP Jeremy Buckingham to stand aside after allegations “of sexual violence”.

Sydneysiders Holly Brooke, Anna Hush, Isadora Poole and Anna Rowe are among young women quitting the Greens. Picture: John Feder

Greens NSW has joined calls for embattled MP Jeremy Buckingham to stand aside after colleague Jenny Leong used parliamentary privilege to allege he had engaged in an “act of sexual violence”.

Mr Buckingham is under pressure over allegations he inappropriately touched former staffer Ella Buckland in 2011.

The MP denies the allegations and an independent investigation found insufficient evidence to substantiate the claim.

Ms Leong and senator Dr Mehreen Faruqi also released a joint statement asking for Mr Buckingham to go on Tuesday.

Greens leader Richard di Natale released a statement later that evening backing Ms Leong’s call for Mr Buckingham to stand down.

Greens NSW released a statement supporting Ms Leong and Dr Faruqi call for Mr Buckingham to stand down.

“Speaking on behalf of the party’s elected bodies, we support the concerns expressed by Jenny and Mehreen, and affirm their invitation for Jeremy to stand aside and not contest the next election.” it read.

“We affirm support for women and we commit to working to achieve justice for all survivors.”

The statement further said a motion on the matter would be discussed at the next state delegate council meeting in December.

Mr Buckingham has been supported by upper house ally Cate Faehrmann.

Greens confront violence crisis

The Greens are confronting ­crises in two states, with candidates for the Victorian election caught denigrating women in the same week as a NSW MP was accused by a party colleague of “sexual violence” against a ­former staffer.

Members have deserted the party, with former recruits of the Young Greens telling The Australian they tore up their membership in protest at how the party had handled sexual misconduct allegations.

Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews, facing a pitched battle with the Greens in key seats that could determine whether Labor can retain majority government on November 24, lashed out, ­accusing the party of “having a massive cultural problem”.

“I’m not going to be lectured by them on any policy matter,” he said.

In the latest case, Greens Footscray candidate Angus McAlpine, who previously rapped with the band Broken Aesthetik, performing under the pseudonym “FatGut”, was found to have rapped about the date rape drug rohypnol, using violence against his girlfriend and derog­atory terms about sex and disabled people.

His band denigrates gay men and refers to “f..king faggots”.

Greens candidate Angus McAlpine, aka ‘FatGut’.

Victorian Greens leader Samantha Ratnam defended Mr McAlpine on the grounds that “change is a journey”. Her spokesman said one of his songs, written in 2015 and released online by a rec­ord company this year, had been misinterpreted as “choke a bitch” and was ­actually “choke it bitch” — an apparent reference to smoking marijuana.

The Greens candidate for the Liberal-held seat of Sandringham, Dominic Phillips, was also revealed as “liking” pages on Facebook including “Period Pains, Try waiting for your porn to download”, “Twinkle twinkle little slut, name one guy you haven’t f..ked” and “I’d swim in the ocean for you … LOL jks, id get my turban wet [sic].”

The most senior members of the Greens refused to comment on the scandals in Victoria and in NSW, where sexual misconduct allegations were aired under parliamentary privilege by Greens MP Jenny Leong, who called on her colleague, upper house MP Jeremy Buckingham, to resign.

Mr Buckingham has denied claims by former NSW Greens staffer Ella Buckland that he touched her inappropriately and an independent review did not substantiate the claim.

Greens senators Janet Rice, Larissa Waters, Sarah Hanson-Young and Rachel Siewert yesterday refused to comment.

Former Greens leader Bob Brown also did not respond to The Australian’s calls.

The office of federal Greens leader Richard Di Natale declined to comment on the “state issue” in Victoria, despite his call on Tuesday for Mr Buckingham to stand down over the “sexual violence” allegations.

A chorus of lobby groups, including Domestic Violence Victoria, Centres Against Sexual Assault and the Victorian Gay and Lesbian Rights Lobby, condemned lyrics by Broken Aesthetik as ­deeply sexist, homophobic and “dangerous”.

Victorian Minister for Women Jill Hennessy accused the Greens of misleading Victorians.

“The Greens are the first to put their hands up when it comes to pointing out any type of behaviour that they deem undesirable, but it seems that when it comes to attitudes towards women … and women’s sexual safety that the Greens have decided political expediency is more important than the principle of treating women with respect,” she said.

Holly Brooke, Isadora Poole, Anna Rowe and Anna Hush are leading an exodus from the Greens amid widespread frustration over the way allegations about the treatment of women are handled.

Ms Brooke, co-­convener of the NSW Young Greens last year, lodged a complaint after a male volunteer allegedly forced his hand down her pants. She was 23 at the time and said the person to whom she reported the incident suggested she give the alleged perpetrator a workshop on consent.

“The party’s victim-blaming and silencing in response to the ­report was as traumatic as the incident itself,” she said.

Journalist Lauren Ingram ­alleged in June last year she had been raped by a Greens staffer.

Ms Brooke, Ms Poole, Ms Rowe and Ms Hush were part of a group that sent out an open letter demanding all Greens parties prioritise reforming internal sexual complaint processes, gathering 382 signatures.

Ms Poole, 20, an environmental campaign worker, said she quit when the ABC report first aired about the claims against Mr Buckingham: “I guess I was pretty sick of seeing the party put their reputation ahead of Ella’s welfare.”

Ms Hush, 24, who is completing a PhD in law, said she quit the Greens a couple of months ago because of how the party responded to alleged sexual misconduct.

“I joined the Greens thinking it was a party that valued social justice (and) gender equality,” she said. “I was really shocked to see how the party responded (to Ms Buckland.)”

Ms Rowe, 24, said her exit from the party was a long time coming.

“Richard Di Natale has came out and said Jeremy Buckingham should resign,” she said.

“Before that he said nothing … the same with Jenny Leong, just people putting party politics above women.”

Mr McAlpine was keeping a low profile yesterday, with a Greens campaigner outside the Footscray early voting centre telling The Australian the plumber was “at work”.

On Tuesday, he said he was “deeply sorry … for the offence, the degradation, the humiliation and the triggering that those lyrics that I once performed have had on anyone who’s heard them”.

A Greens spokesman told the ABC that Mr Phillips had made poor decisions on social media as a teenager.

Additional reporting: Rosie Lewis