Greens event won’t have formal debate on Jeremy Buckingham allegations

https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2018/nov/17/greens-event-wont-have-formal-debate-on-jeremy-buckingham-allegations

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The Greens national convener, Rebecca Galdies, has described the crisis gripping the New South Wales branch as “heartbreaking” for women in the party, but says the alleged behaviour of the state MP Jeremy Buckingham will not be the subject of formal debate at this weekend’s national conference.

The allegations against Buckingham have caused a deep and public split within the NSW Greens, placing the state MP Jenny Leong and the federal senator Mehreen Faruqi in open conflict with fellow state MPs Justin Field and Cate Faehrmann.

The infighting has consumed the party before its national conference in the Blue Mountains this weekend.

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‘“It’s been a difficult year and the stuff that you’re asking about has been really heartbreaking, particularly for women in the movement,” Galdies said. “But in saying that, at a national level, we have a bunch of extraordinary women leading the way and working hard on developing our anti-sexual harassment policy, working with experts to deliver consent training to MPs, office bearers and delegates, and improving our complaints processes. Without fail, every national council meeting in the last 12 months has had a majority of women in attendance.

“But this weekend is not about GNSW, or at least, not in isolation. It’s about some of the really positive work we’ve been doing as a party on our federal election platform; it’s about debating what we would prioritise if we found ourselves in the balance of power again, and how we elect our parliamentary leader. There is really exciting stuff on the agenda. So no, we do not intend to debate issues relating to Jeremy Buckingham.”

The allegations against Buckingham were raised again this week in a speech by Leong in state parliament. She used parliamentary privilege to accuse him of an act of “sexual violence” against Greens staffer Ella Buckland in 2011, and urged him to resign.

Leong also alleged that Buckingham’s behaviour had caused other women to leave the party. She said he had acted aggressively towards her twice this year.

The federal Greens leader, Richard Di Natale, added his voice to calls for Buckingham to quit.

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But Buckingham fired back at Di Natale on Thursday. He wrote toDi Natale urging him to make a public statement in support of due process and the presumption of innocence.

Buckingham denies all the allegations against him. An independent investigation was unable to substantiate the Buckland complaint.

Field, who spoke out in Buckingham’s defence, said his colleague had been the target of an “orchestrated political hit” by those who wanted to push him out.

“Jenny’s statement was first and foremost an opportunistic effort to destroy and a continuation of a relentless effort by some in the Greens to use this complaint to force Jeremy out of the party,” Field said in a statement.

The Greens national conference and annual general meeting will take place on Saturday and Sunday.