David Gillespie (Lyne, National Party) Share this | Hansard source

Today I was reported by a media outlet as playing down sexual assault allegations as a beat-up following a story aired earlier. As I entered parliament this morning, I was asked by a journalist about bullying in the Liberal Party. I indicated that I was not a member of the Liberal Party, rather, a member of the National Party, and that the National Party had just had three more talented women elected in this House and in the other place. I also added that the same occurred in the Liberal Party, with many more talented women entering the House of Representatives and the other place. Unaware of the stories being reported earlier in the day about sexual harassment allegations, I thought the question asked of me, which I thought was quite reasonable, related to matters that were raised after a change in the Liberal Party leadership last year. This is what I was referring to as a beat-up.

I practised medicine for 33 years, caring for women of all ages and some of them were victims of sexual assault and violence—

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