Here you go LL.
Would you donsider The Australian a 'blogger'
A SENIOR Labor figure is under investigation by Victoria Police after it was alleged he raped a teenager at an event organised by the party's youth wing in the 1980s.
The alleged victim, who cannot be named, claims the assault took place during an overnight camp organised by the "Vanguard" movement of the state's Young Labor party and held in Portarlington, near Geelong.
The woman, a community nurse who now lives on the NSW central coast, last month made a formal complaint to Victoria Police. The complaint was assessed before the decision was made to launch an investigation.
Since speaking to detectives, the woman has declined to respond to calls from The Australian, but has previously described the alleged assault in a series of private conversations with this newspaper, as well as publicly on Facebook.
"In 1985 I joined the ALP. In 86 at the age of 16 I . . . became a delegate for state and national conferences. In 86 I went to a Young Labor camp down near Geelong . . . I was alone," she has said in one of these online postings. "At about 4am there was a knock at my door. It was him at the door. He pushed me into a bathroom, up against a towel rail, pulled down my pants and raped me."
She says she was drunk at the time the alleged assault took place, and is currently taking painkilling medication that affects her short-term memory, although she says her memory of the alleged incident itself is clear.
Lawyers for the man said last night the "unsubstantiated claims date back almost 30 years and they have never previously been raised with him".
"The unsubstantiated claims are absolutely without foundation and are distressing for his family and for him," the lawyers said.
"He strongly denies any wrongdoing and will fully co-operate with any investigation. Police have not contacted him."
The Australian has found no evidence that the claims have ever previously been raised with Victoria Police.
Despite the timing of Kevin Rudd's resignation from parliament last night, The Australian can confirm the man is not the former prime minister.
The description the woman has given of the camp venue at which the incident allegedly took place matches that of the Portarlington Holiday Complex, owned and operated by the Federated Rubber and Allied Workers Union and which opened in about December 1985.
The site's manager at the time, Sean McNamara, has since died but a number of other staff who worked there during 1986 have confirmed the complex hosted various union and Labor Party-affiliated groups on short trips.
Records of these bookings were made in a paper diary but the book has not been kept by either these former staff members or the site's current owners, who have managed the complex since its sale in 1990.
Detectives from the Victoria Police Sexual Offences and Child Abuse Unit are drawing up an investigation plan, which will include whether to pursue these records through the union itself, as well as other potential witnesses.
The alleged victim claims the first person she told about the alleged assault, several months after it happened, was a close friend who she was living with at the time but had since lost contact with.
The Australian has spoken to this friend, who asked not to be named but confirmed the conversation took place between the two women, who were about 16 or 17 at the time.
While she did not remember the name of the alleged assailant mentioned at the time, this second woman said her friend had described a sexual assault taking place during a Young Labor overnight camp in 1986.
The alleged assault had devastated her friend, she said, and resulted in her losing her faith in politics. The two women have not spoken to each other in several years.
Victoria Police last night confirmed they were "investigating a report of an alleged historical sexual assault".
"As the matter is subject to an ongoing investigation, it would be inappropriate to comment further," they said.
DEPUTY Opposition leader Tanya Plibersek has urged a full investigation into **bleep** allegations against a senior Labor figure dating back 30 years.
The Australian reported today that Victoria Police was investigating the alleged assault of a teenager at an event organised by the party's youth wing in the 1980s.
The alleged victim, who cannot be named, claims the assault took place during an overnight camp organised by the "Vanguard" movement of the state's Young Labor party and held in Portarlington, near Geelong.
Ms Plibersek said the allegations should be taken seriously by police.
"I take any allegation of **bleep** or sexual assault seriously. It should be investigated fully," she said.
"The matter is with police now and that's where it should stay."
Tony Abbott also backed the police investigation.
"If something has happened, let it be looked into and treated as it should be by the relevant authorities," he told 3AW.
The woman, a community nurse who now lives on the NSW central coast, last month made a formal complaint to Victoria Police. The complaint was assessed before the decision was made to launch an investigation.
Lawyers for the man said last night the "unsubstantiated claims date back almost 30 years and they have never previously been raised with him".
"The unsubstantiated claims are absolutely without foundation and are distressing for his family and for him," the lawyers said.
"He strongly denies any wrongdoing and will fully co-operate with any investigation. Police have not contacted him."
I know that you believe you understand what you think I said, but I'm not sure you realize that what you heard is not what I meant.
