Northern Territory Senator Sam McMahon has raised allegations that she feared for her safety while in the Country Liberal Party, and that the party management never responded to her concerns.
Senator McMahon quit the CLP last week, ending a 30-year association with the party.
On Monday, she revealed that part of her reason for splitting with the party was a lack of action by CLP management relating to formal complaints that she had filed.
On Tuesday morning, Senator McMahon opened up about the nature of those complaints, divulging that they related to "safety concerns" that she'd had relating to members of the party.
She said that party management had never responded to her concerns.
"The correspondence between myself and the management committee of the party, I don't want to go into details of exactly what that correspondence was, but it revolved around me needing to feel safe in all aspects of my workplace, and that is one area I have concerns about," Senator McMahon told ABC Radio Darwin.
"I've received no calls from anyone. I've only received a letter stating that they'd received my resignation."
On Monday, CLP president Jamie De Brenni denied the senator's complaints were being ignored, and said they were being processed with "due diligence".
"The complaints [were] in regards to issues that Sam had with people inside the party, and that's going to be dealt with," Mr De Brenni said on Mix 104.9.
Senator McMahon invokes Jenkins report
In discussing her concerns on ABC Radio Darwin, Senator McMahon invoked a damning 2021 report into the toxic culture of federal parliament, the Jenkins report, which, among other revelations, found that one in three parliamentary staff had been sexually harassed.
"This is more about the Jenkins report, and the need to feel safe in your workplace, and that's why it's very personal for me," Senator McMahon said.
"The Jenkins report — which was the sex discrimination report into federal parliament workplaces — obviously highlighted that females in federal parliament have issues with feeling safe, and a lot of reports were made of instances where people didn't feel safe.
"And the Morrison government has done a lot of work in this area and has responded tremendously, and I have no problem with my federal workplace.
"The issue is that the CLP Central Council, you know … for a politician, the party meetings are part of your workplace, and that's the issue that I had."
The CLP's Central Council meetings happen, according to Senator McMahon, "several times a year, when delegates from across all the different branches in the Northern Territory come together and sit for approximately two days and meet and discuss all the business of the party".
It remains unclear if any specific allegations of harassment have been raised.
CLP's Leader 'unaware' of concerns
NT Opposition Leader Lia Finocchiaro, the CLP's parliamentary leader, told ABC Radio Darwin she was unaware of Senator McMahon's concerns.
"That was all new news to me," Ms Finocchiaro said.
"Of course, she has made the decision [to resign], [which] she needs to make for herself, and I respect that, and I think that, ultimately, we're all individuals and we're all part of a broader team but, from time to time, you have to make decisions to put your best interests first, and Sam has clearly done that."
Ms Finocchiaro denied she herself felt any safety concerns at CLP Central Council meetings.
"I don't share the same concerns, and I'm not aware of what Sam is concerned about but, of course, that's a private matter for her, and nor should I," she said.
The Opposition Leader said it wasn't her role to try to help address Senator McMahon's concerns, but anticipated she would catch up to discuss the senator's plans in the future.
