The Labour Party still has a raft of questions that need answering about the cover up of an alleged sexual assault by a staff member who was employed in Jacinda Ardern’s office, ³Ô¹ÏÍøÕ¾’s Deputy Leader Paula Bennett says.
“It’s been five weeks since the Labour Party brought in a QC to take over the investigation after Labour let down the alleged victims. But we still don’t know what the terms of reference are or what the report will even look into.
“The very people who originally dismissed the serious allegations are the ones who will be deciding the terms of reference. The victims continue to be let down.
“They have added an additional insult to the victims by appointing one of the panel members as the Acting President of the Labour Party. If they were serious about this being a victim centred approach, she would have stepped aside for someone else.
“This process has never been victim-led and the fact that we don’t know what the report is looking into, what the terms of reference are and the same people who originally dismissed the serious allegations are still involved shows Labour has no intention of putting the victims first.
“The Prime Minister and Grant Robertson can’t continue avoiding questions because of the QC’s report.
“It’s time to stop hiding behind the QC’s report, start a proper process which respects the victims and be transparent with New Zealanders.”
