Senator for Victoria Lidia Thorpe made the statement in which she reaffirmed her claims of sexual assault in Parliament House.

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Senator Lidia Thorpe revealed that she was forcefully followed, subjected to unwanted proposals, and inappropriately touched by an unnamed male in a stairway. She claimed there was no CCTV coverage in that particular region, limiting the availability of proof to back up her assertions.

Following Lidia Thorpe’s charges of sexual harassment and assault against Victorian Liberal Senator David Van, the senator angrily denied the allegations. Thorpe made these claims while protected by parliamentary privilege, which allows politicians to speak freely without fear of legal repercussions.

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However, she withdrew her statements due to a parliamentary point of order. However, things buzzed between Thorpe and Hanson. During Lidia Thorpe’s closing remarks, Pauline Hanson murmured something under her breath that could not be heard from the Senate’s public gallery. According to sources, Hanson yelled ‘Oh, crap’ after Thorpe declared that Parliament House was not a secure place to work. Thorpe responded by telling Hanson to ‘F*** off.’

As reported by Daily Mail, she did not react earlier because “It was during the time Britney Higgins had made her experience in this building public. I did not want to have anything taken away from her experience and her bravery in coming forward.”

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She also added that “As all women that have walked the corridors of this building know, it is not a safe place. You are often alone and in long corridors with no windows and in stairwells hidden from view where there are no cameras. This was my new workplace.”

Senator David Van also shared a statement to 2GB’s Ben Fordham earlier on Thursday morning, describing himself as ‘battered and shattered’ in response to Senator Lidia Thorpe’s charges. Van was accused by Thorpe of being a ‘predator’ who sexually harassed and abused her.