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Independent Senator Lidia Thorpe has alleged she was "followed, aggressively propositioned and inappropriately touched" in parliament.
Speaking in the Senate the day after she had used parliamentary privilege to accuse Liberal Senator David Van of sexually assaulting and harassing her – comments later withdrawn to comply with standing orders – Thorpe gave a tearful statement detailing her alleged experiences.
Van this morning strenuously denied the claims made yesterday by Thorpe, labelling them as "completely unfounded" and "disgusting".
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In her statement today, Thorpe did not identify a man she alleged had cornered her in a parliamentary stairwell and 9news.com.au does not suggest she was talking about Van.
"I experienced sexual comments and was inappropriately propositioned by powerful men," Thorpe said to the Senate this afternoon.
"One man followed me and cornered me in the stairwell, and most of this was witnessed by … staff and a fellow member of parliament.
"No one witnessed what happened in the stairwell, as there were no cameras in stairwells.
"I know there are others that have experienced similar things and have not come forward in the interest of their careers and fear that they would be presented to the world by the media in the same way that I have been today.
"There are different understandings of what amounts to sexual assault and what I experienced has been followed, aggressively propositioned and inappropriately touched."
Thorpe said the alleged behaviour occurred around the same time that Brittany Higgins came forward with her allegations of rape against then-Liberal staffer Bruce Lehrmann, and so she did not publicise her own claims to not take anything away from Higgins – something she said was "the right decision".
The independent senator, a former member of the Greens, said she did speak to others in parliament about what she alleged happened.
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"I was afraid to walk out of the office, I would open the doors slightly and check the coast was clear before stepping out," she said.
"It was to the degree that had to be accompanied by someone whenever I walked inside this building.
"That is how the Greens supported me and I thank them for that.
"To me, it was sexual assault. And the government at the time recognised it as such.
"At the time I spoke to the President of the Senate about it.
"I spoke to my colleagues about it. I spoke to the sex discrimination commissioner Kate Jenkins about it during the inquiry.
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"I spoke to senior leaders in the Liberal Party and it was assured that the prime minister was informed at the time.
"I was convinced that the government believed me. The actions immediately moving the person's office reassured me that they understood the seriousness of what I experienced."
In her statement to the Senate, Thorpe also criticised Van's reaction to her allegations made yesterday.
"I am disappointed by the reaction of the senator," she said.
"Instead of stepping up, taking accountability for the fact that he made me feel unsafe, he denied it.
"He asked his lawyers to send a letter… this type of behaviour makes it harder for other women to come forward."
Earlier in the day, a "shattered" Van again denied what he called the "utterly disgusting" allegations made against him, but has conceded he did relocate his office in 2021 after Thorpe made a complaint against him.
Van said "he'd rather have been accused of murder than this".
"To say I'm shattered by those allegations would be an understatement, I feel just battered," Van said on 2GB's Ben Fordham Live.
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"How someone can make an allegation like that against another person that is completely unfounded – I've been in shock.
"People who have seen the video can see how shocked I was at the time, it's just awful, it's just terrible for me and my family."
Asked by Fordham if there was any truth whatsoever to the allegations, Van said "utterly no".
"I think the only time I've ever even touched her would've been shaking her hand after her maiden speech," Van said.
"No, no. I have not harassed her in any shape or form.
"It's utterly disgusting that she would say those words and I'm kind of upset that you would even raise those."
If Thorpe held any genuine belief "that anything happened", Van said he would "encourage her to take it to the police and let the courts decide".
Van admitted that he did move offices back in 2021 after Thorpe made complaints about his conduct in parliament.
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"She had made allegations to our leadership through her leadership that I was following her into the chamber, which made her feel uncomfortable, but that was just the way that we all file into the chamber when there are divisions," Van said.
"At times I'd be in front of her, at times I'd be behind her, but at no time did I harass her.
"So, the leadership offered me another office and so I moved."
Van said the offer was made by former Liberal Party Senate President Scott Ryan.
"If I'm sounding a bit shaky this morning, it's because I haven't slept much last night," Van said.
"I'd feel less bad if she had have accused me of murder than this."
Van was speaking in the Senate yesterday about the Jenkins report into parliamentary culture when Thorpe began interjecting, calling out "perpetrator" and "you can talk".
As Senate deputy president Andrew McLachlan repeatedly asked Thorpe to stop, the independent senator rose on a point of order.
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"I'm feeling really uncomfortable when a perpetrator is speaking about violence," she said, using parliamentary privilege.
After being asked by McLachlan to withdraw the "inappropriate" comment, Thorpe continued.
"I can't because this person harassed me, sexually assaulted me and the prime minister had to remove him from his office.
"And to have him talking about this today is an absolute disgrace, on the whole party."
Thorpe later withdrew her remarks at the request of the deputy president "in order to comply with the parliamentary standing orders".
Support is available from the National Sexual Assault, Domestic Family Violence Counselling Service at 1800RESPECT (1800 737 732).
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