The Country Liberal Party remains an “old boys club”, with female members being threatened and formal complaints about bullying not being addressed more than a year after they were made, party members have told the NT Independent.

The culture of the party has again become the focus of attention after Senator Sam McMahon resigned late last month, stating her personal safety at party meetings was a contributing factor to her resignation, after she had filed complaints about party members that were never resolved.

CLP Leader Lia Finocchiaro claimed on radio Wednesday morning that the CLP does not have a problem with females being bullied, saying “there is no culture in the CLP that is causing any issue particularly for women”, but sources say numerous complaints filed by female members are not being addressed.

CLP Leader Lia Finocchiaro

Members the NT Independent spoke with said they had witnessed inappropriate behaviour by male members toward female members over the last couple of years, including an incident that involved a male member spitting on a female member, as well as threats and aggressive behaviour that exceeded the threshold for heated political debate.

All of the issues have been raised with party president Jamie De Brenni and the management committee, that includes Ms Finocchiaro and deputy leader Gerard Maley, but the members say some of the matters are more than a year old and have not been adequately addressed – or in most cases, not addressed at all.

“There is a great deal of poor governance within the CLP that a number of members have raised over the last three years,” said one member who asked not to be named for fear of retaliatory action.

“Issues have been brought to the attention of the management committee without resolution of those issues.

“There are numerous examples of unacceptable behaviour in party meetings – especially from men toward women. I have seen one very bad example of abusive behaviour from one management committee member towards a male party member who raised an issue in a meeting.

“I have personally seen a CLP member make a complaint to two Management Committee members about bullying in party meetings and nothing has been done. I have seen many examples of males bullying females.

“I have been bullied in party meetings many, many times. I have made a number of complaints about party members’ actions, and no action has been taken. I no longer go to party meetings as I have been told it is unsafe for me to do so.”

Mr De Brenni did not directly respond to questions sent by the NT Independent, including if he could point to any complaints made to the management committee that have been resolved.

“Matters raised in management are confidential, as are matters raised in any other organisation by its committee or board,” Mr De Brenni said in a statement.

“The CLP is proud of its long history of representation of women, which includes a female parliamentary leader and two MLAs, federal candidates, [formerly] a senator, a vice president and nearly half of the members of management, holders of senior positions within the party, the membership and staff, as well as former presidents and candidates too numerous to count.

“We promote and support women at all levels of our organisation.

“The management committee is made up of several positions that are elected at the AGM by the membership and includes the chair of CLP Women.”

The chair of the CLP Women’s committee is Mr De Brenni’s wife Alice De Brenni.

Party doesn’t have a ‘grievance policy’ despite claiming it was investigating complaints in accordance with the policy

Mr De Brenni said last week that Ms McMahon’s complaints were still being investigated by the party through its “grievance policy”. But members the Independent spoke with said there is no formal grievance policy.

Mr De Brenni did not provide a copy of the policy when asked.

Ms Finocchairo, who also referenced the grievance policy on radio last week, told the NT Independent that she is a “non-executive member” on the management committee and has “no authority to speak on behalf of the operational aspects of the CLP”, but reiterated that the party does not have a problem with women.

“What I can say about the culture of the CLP is that women hold leadership positions in every part of our organisation – I am a female parliamentary leader, with female parliamentary colleagues, supported by female federal candidates, management members and party members – the opportunity for women in our party to fight for Territorians couldn’t be further from a ‘boys club’,” she said.

It is not the first time the party has been accused of being an “old boys club” that has a problem with women.

During the tumultuous days of the previous Giles-CLP government, many high profile female politicians left the party over concerns the party had lost its way and was run by male bullies, including now independent Member for Araluen Robyn Lambley, who warned other women about joining the party in 2015.

“Never would I have thought in my wildest dreams that I would be forced to resign from a party that I have been philosophically aligned with all my life,” Ms Lambley told Parliament in 2015, in a scathing speech announcing her resignation from the party.

“To any woman contemplating a future in politics with the CLP, think carefully about your ability to endure what I could only describe as abuse.”

One party member who has filed complaints with the management committee said she hoped the party would acknowledge their internal issues and address them to present a “respectful and supportive culture”.

“I want the CLP to acknowledge they have some internal issues and problems and re-invent the party to be a strong party to support our MLAs and win the next NT election,” she said.

“To achieve that, the culture of the CLP needs to change – for that to happen, the leadership needs to change. Some younger, more vibrant, open and smart CLP members at the helm may be able to affect that change in culture.”