Party review after camp scandal

The Labour Party president says the most ‘‘comprehensive review’’ of a political party ever seen will be carried out by an independent barrister on the back of sexual assault allegations.

Nigel Haworth spoke to news media in Auckland alongside Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern yesterday where he ‘‘deeply apologised’’ to the four teenagers who were allegedly sexually assaulted at a camp near Waihi last month.

‘‘I want to start by saying how seriously we are taking this matter. We understand we failed in our duty of care during the event ... and in support we’ve offered since then,’’ Haworth said.

‘‘We are very very distressed about this and want to apologise deeply to the four people and their families ... and the other people who took part in this camp.’’

Neither Haworth or the party’s general secretary, Andrew Kirton, will be resigning in light of how the allegations were handled in the days and weeks after the camp.

The comprehensive review of the party and its behaviours will be carried out by a senior barrister with experience in investigations, in particular dealing with sexual assaults.

Ardern said: ‘‘We handled this very very badly as a party.’’

Events suspended

Labour has suspended all events run by its youth wing following the alleged sexual assaults at a summer camp last month.

Haworth said ‘‘we’re not stopping them forever’’ but they would not restart until ‘‘safety can be guaranteed’’.

The party has also banned alcohol from all events where those under 18 are present and a senior member of the Labour Party will be present at any future Young Labour events.

The bans come after a 20-yearold man allegedly sexually assaulted four teenagers, all aged

16, including putting his hands down the pants of at least three of them at the Young Labour summer camp in Waihi, in February.

There was alcohol present at the camp, despite some of the attendees being underage.

The Young Labour supporter was ejected the morning after the alleged incidents took place, and barred from future events.

However, there was a delay in the Young Labour organisers alerting party officials to the incident, and in the party offering support to the victims. Professional support and counselling, as well as an explicit offer to facilitate going to police was not made until last week – more than three weeks after the incident took place.

Police investigating

On Tuesday, one of the victims told the party they had reported the incident to police.

And on Wednesday, police said they had launched an investigation into the alleged assaults.

Kirton said he had also been contacted by another victim, who said she had been subjected to a similar assault at a Labour event in the past 10 years.

Kirton and Ardern both acknowledged the party had been too slow, and not explicit enough, in its offer of support to the victims.

Ardern said the party had failed to provide a safe environment for young people at the summer camp, and to properly deal with serious concerns raised by several attendees in relation to sexual misconduct and alcohol.

‘Deeply sorry’

‘‘We failed the young people who told us they had been hurt – this failure left them feeling abandoned and I am deeply sorry for that. It’s not good enough, we let them down.

‘‘Given that a complaint has now been laid with the police I cannot comment on the specifics, but I want to reiterate that we did not do the right thing fast enough in dealing with these incidents.

‘‘Our young party members are our future. They work hard for our cause and we must ensure they can do so in a safe and supportive environment,’’ Ardern said.

The party was reviewing its practices and polices, in conjunction with Sexual Abuse Prevention Network.

Meanwhile, Kirton would be making contact with all attendees at the camp to apologise and offer any support they needed.