The previously anonymous ABC journalist at the centre of sexual harassment allegations against New South Wales opposition leader Luke Foley has broken her silence.
In a statement released by the national broadcaster today, Ashleigh Raper claims that Foley, at a Christmas party in 2016, “put his hand through a gap in the back of my dress and inside my underpants. He rested his hand on my buttocks.”
Foley, according to Raper, contacted her last Sunday to apologise for his behaviour and explain that he would resign as the leader between Monday and Wednesday this week. On Tuesday, she says, he called again to say he would not be resigning due to “legal advice”.
The statement leaves Foley’s position utterly untenable and his resignation must only be a matter of time, leaving NSW Labor without a leader just four months from the next state election. Maroubra MP Michael Daley is expected to replace him.
A NSW government minister raised the alleged incident under parliamentary privilege recently, prompting Foley to threaten personal retribution against the Coalition. The issue was raised without Raper’s consent or knowledge and she had decided, until today, to stay silent on the issue. She outlined the reasons for her silence that should be quoted at length.
It is clear to me that a woman who is the subject of such behaviour is often the person who suffers once a complaint is made. I cherished my position as a state political reporter and feared that would be lost. I also feared the negative impact the publicity could have on me personally and on my young family. This impact is now being felt profoundly.
Raper goes on to make a forthright statement about how the whole issue has been handled.
There are three things I want to come from my decision to make this statement.
First, women should be able to go about their professional lives and socialise without being subject to this sort of behaviour.
And I want it to stop.
Second, situations like mine should not be discussed in parliament for the sake of political point scoring.
And I want it to stop.
Third, I want to get on with my life.
Foley took over as NSW Labor leader just prior to the 2015 election when predecessor John Robertson resigned after it was revealed he had written a supportive letter for Lindt Cafe terrorist Man Monis.
Goodbye and good riddance to Luke Foley.
But more to the point, what a crap situation for the journalist to have to endure.
Yep.
Foley has to go. Please let NSW Labor produce someone as leader who doesn’t make me wonder if I could even vote Labor if I lived in NSW, please.
Crappy that the journalist needs to out herself in order for the story to get over the line and also that she felt she had to sit on it for 2 years. I suppose in theory she could have told the story via a colleague keeping the exact identity secret, but the pool of candidates is too small for it to be genuinely kept secret so I understand the decision to just go public and be done with it.. Hopefully there is no backlash, and if I see NSW Labor people being asses about it….
Agree…Foley has to go.
The bastards got two 4-year fixed terms to sort out a decent leader. Foley’s predeccesor Robertson had Keating gunning for him because of his streetwise popular oppositon to the power line sales. The NSW ALP right wing thugs have done it again, as it looks like they’ve might just have given us what we really don’t deserve, another 4 years of the Liberals HillSong,Fred Nile, and Gun Lobby show, similar to what they did to us federally after their R-G-R roundabout.
Awful incident for any woman to endure. The focus should be on the distress caused to the complainant; the focus should not be on using these allegations as a political football.
Interesting that the allegation has been released 4 months (or so) prior to the NSW state election.
Prepare for the government’s election hearing aid to be SWITCHED OFF on election night.
When I first saw Luke Foley, my gut reaction was that he looked like a bit of a creep. Turns out he is actually is one.
Here we go again.
To be fair, I think politics inevitably turns everyone into creeps.
There is always an inflection point where the battle between character and opportunity will run it’s natural course.
At this point he should at least do the honourable thing and just shut the f#ck up.
Are they not creeps before they enter politics? Are politicians any different from the Ted Bundy’s and Sheila Davalloo’s of the world? Talk to any phyciatrist and they will tell you the most classic trait of a sociopath serial killer is narcissism and elevation of themselves above their peers. Very strange, but true. Or put simply they believe they are better than everyone else. This sort of puts into perspective so called successful people, especially politicians.