Greens NSW MP Jeremy Buckingham survives expulsion bid

Efforts to suspend Jeremy Buckingham after he was accused of sexual misconduct by a former staffer have failed.

Mr Buckingham has denied the allegations.

Efforts to suspend embattled Greens NSW MP Jeremy Buckingham after he was accused of sexual misconduct by a former staffer have failed despite a majority of delegates to a key party decision making body voting to remove him.

Proposals to suspend Mr Buckingham from his portfolio responsibilities and remove him from Legislative Council ticket pending the outcome of the investigation were presented at the State Delegates Council over the weekend.

The two proposals received a 65 per cent and a 60 per cent majority respectively.

But motions require a 75 per cent majority to pass.

The former staffer, Ella Buckland, has alleged Mr Buckingham followed her into a dark street, grabbed her from behind and kissed her neck in August 2011.

Mr Buckingham has denied the allegation and has said they are a weapon in an internal factional war being waged against him.

The allegation is currently under investigation by Work Dynamic, an independent third party contractor.

Ms Buckland said the SDC outcome would be felt by other victims of misconduct.

“While I believe that this is an internal matter for The Greens, these kinds of outcomes are significant for all sexual assault survivors.” she said.

Ms Buckland is standing by her story.

Mr Buckingham said the failure of the motions was a win for justice.

“The NSW Greens decided to respect the basic principles of justice, such as the presumption of innocence and procedural fairness.” he said. “The findings of the independent investigation should be released as soon as possible.”

Sources have told The Australian that the right faction, including Richard Di Natale’s former chief-of-staff and incoming Minister for Women Cate Faehrmann, initially blocked discussion of the proposals leading to a walk out.

Outgoing Greens Senator Lee Rhiannon and the Young Greens have already publicly called for Mr Buckingham’s resignation.

The Australian is not suggesting that the allegations are true, only that they have been made and are being investigated.

Mr Buckingham faced moves to expel him from the party in March after he criticised the party’s internal processes on in a media interview.