No heads to roll despite ‘failing teenagers’

Labour’s 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, speaking yesterday alongside Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, 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 nor the party’s general secretary, Andrew Kirton, will be resigning in light of how the allegations were handled.

The comprehensive review of the ‘‘whole party and its behaviours’’ will be carried out by senior barrister Maria Berryman, who has experience in investigations, in particular dealing with sexual assaults.

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

Ardern said yesterday that the party handled the Waihi incidents ‘‘very, very badly’’ and Young Labour ‘‘should never have been left in this situation’’.

Labour has suspended all events run by its youth wing. Haworth said they would not restart until ‘‘safety can be guaranteed’’.

Labour MP Liz Craig was at last month’s camp and was asleep when the sexual assaults took place.

She posted on Facebook yesterday that she stayed overnight after being invited to speak to attendees on oral health issues.

‘‘On the Saturday evening, I attended a quiz event and went to bed early once this had finished. While alcohol was present, I understood the organising committee had put in place measures to ensure those under the age of 18 were not drinking, and that organising committee members had been designated to oversee the evening’s events,’’ she posted.

‘‘I was dismayed to hear of events being raised in the media this week, as I was unaware until then that anything of this nature had occurred.’’

The party has now banned alcohol from all events where those aged 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-year-old man allegedly sexually assaulted four teenagers, all aged 16, including putting his hands down the pants of at least three of them.

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.

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

Yesterday, the police said they had launched an investigation into the alleged assaults.

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

‘‘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.

‘‘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.’’

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

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