Senator says she felt 'unsafe' at CLP meetings | NT Independent

Senator says she felt ‘unsafe’ at CLP meetings

by | Feb 1, 2022 | News | 0 comments

Senator Sam McMahon said she did not feel safe at the Country Liberal Party’s central council meetings, which led to her decision to quit the party last week, plunging it into an existential crisis.

Ms McMahon spoke out publicly for the first time Tuesday morning on local radio. She said while she has friends in the CLP, and party president Jamie De Brenni is a “great guy”, she could not continue to feel unsafe at work.

“It’s a personal issue for me. I can’t put up any longer with not feeling safe and secure in the workplace,” she said on Mix 104.9.

She did not elaborate on what or who made her feel unsafe.

In a statement yesterday, Ms McMahon had said that she had “lost confidence” in the party and that complaints she had made to the management committee were not acknowledged.

It was unclear who or what those complaints involved, however Mr De Brenni had said on Monday that her complaints centered around “issues that Sam had with people inside the party”. He added the complaints are still being dealt with.

When asked about her own conduct, including an incident in December at a Canberra pub where she was alleged to have thrown a punch at federal Nationals Party director Jon Hawkes, Ms McMahon said she would not comment.

“I’m not going to go into details of what may or may not have been said or what may or may not have been done by people at a private work function,” she said.

“I’m not going to respond to those allegations.”

Ms McMahon said she had no regrets about her behaviour while a Senator.

“No I don’t have any great regrets about anything I’ve done,” she said. “I’ve always tried to do the absolute best job that I can.”

She added that when she became aware of a staffer feeling unsafe in her office, she took action which led to the sacking of her former chief of staff and another staffer leaving their role.

Her resignation will trigger a review of the CLP’s official party status by the Australian Electoral Commission which could lead to the party being deregistered because it no longer has a sitting representative in federal Parliament.

The party will have to prove it has 1500 members to continue as an official federal party.

Mr De Brenni said he had “advice” that the CLP’s long association with the Nationals would help the party maintain its status, but that was discounted by an AEC spokesman who said the CLP would have to prove it has 1500 members on its own.

If the CLP were to lose federal party status, its status in the Territory could also then be reviewed by the NT Electoral Commission.

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