Labour inquiry clears Labour staffer

Stuff reports:

The Labour Party inquiry into a former staffer’s alleged sexual assault found the allegation could not be substantiated.

The report, released on Wednesday, found inconsistencies in the alleged victim’s versions of events – particularly with regards to an email sent to the party.

It could not establish other allegations of sexual assault against the staffer but could substantiate complaints about “aggressive and overbearing” conduct, but this did not meet a criminal standard of bullying.

What a surprise.

Stuff understands a sexual assault counsellor told the prime minister’s office on Wednesday that at least two of the young people who participated in the review were at risk of harming themselves, and should be given more time to look at the report before it was released publicly.

The complainant said she was first alerted to the report’s imminent release in an email from a solicitor at 7.30pm on Tuesday. 

She said she and others in the survivor group asked the solicitor to go back to Labour and plead for more time. 

“We didn’t have enough notice,” the woman told Stuff.

Through tears, the woman said she was frantically worried about one of the other complainants, who had “gone AWOL” and had not been in contact with anyone since reading the report.

The woman said she had been told that any release process would be done with full collaboration with the complainant group.

“They haven’t done that. They have said this is what we are going to say, and they’ve gone ahead and done it anyway.”

Labour – the party that cares.

It was total coincidence of course they released it the day of the press gallery party.