22 May 2019

Parliament bullying report: Speaker believes rapes have occurred

From Morning Report, 7:26 am on 22 May 2019

Party leaders are powerless to act on accounts of serious sexual assaults at Parliament, the details of which are being kept secret.

The claims were outlined in an independent report into bullying and harassment in the halls of power, but their anonymous nature means politicians and the public are in the dark over who may be responsible.

Speaker of the House Trevor Mallard joins Susie Ferguson with his response.

"This report did not identify anybody," Mr Mallard says.

"What I'm trying to do is to make sure the bullies can't operate in this place.

"I'm not aware [alleged perpetrators] - if they're MPs or staff. Reading the report carefully I get the sense the man is still on the premises... That's my interpretation. I don't know who it is," Mr Mallard says.

He says his impression from reading the report is that people have been raped at Parliament.