Boozy events ‘not specific’ to Labour

‘‘Boozy functions are not specific to Young Labour,’’ says long-time National Party member David Farrar.

The former secretary of the Young Nats and party staffer turned blogger and pollster has spoken out about the sexual assault allegations and access to alcohol at a Young Labour summer camp last month, which has led to a police investigation.

It is alleged a 20-year-old man sexually assaulted four teenagers, all aged 16, including putting his hands down the pants of at least three of them, at the camp near Waihi, last month. There was alcohol 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.

Labour made the decision not to tell police or the victims’ families about the alleged incidents, based on its internal processes.

While Farrar said he cannot recall an instance of someone making a complaint of a sexual misconduct nature from a Young Nats event, there had certainly been ‘‘instances of people who drunk too much alcohol and things have got a bit messy’’.

That sort of ‘‘boozy overindulgence’’ culture applied to all youth wings and most youth organisations.

‘‘Boozy functions are not specific to Young Labour,’’ Farrar said. ‘‘In terms of people not making sessions the next morning, that’s not just youth wings.

‘‘I can’t think of a single conference I’ve been to where there’s not usually people joking about who is a bit late turning up due to the night before.

‘‘Let’s not pretend Young Labour is unique in this,’’ Farrar said. ‘‘There are lessons to be learnt from this event, but one shouldn’t put all the blame on Young Labour.’’

Young Nats president Stefan Sunde said he was not aware of any incidents of a sexual misconduct nature taking place at their events and ‘‘no formal complaints have been received’’.

He said the youth wing made sure alcohol was available only to those over the age of 18 at events.

‘‘The Young Nats teams organising our events know their obligations to our members. We’re not the fun police, but we know the ramifications of not doing the right thing.’’

"There are lessons to be learnt from this event, but one shouldn't put all the blame on Young Labour." Long-time National Party member David Farrar