National leader Simon Bridges has sought assurances that the party followed proper process. Photo / Mark Mitchell
National leader Simon Bridges has sought assurances that the party followed proper process. Photo / Mark Mitchell
The National Party has banned a member of its youth wing from attending any party or Young Nationals functions pending the outcome of a police investigation into claims of inappropriate behaviour.
In a statement, the party said it became aware of the names of the alleged victim and alleged offenderonly yesterday morning.
"This information had not been communicated to us previously at the direction of those involved."
The party then wrote to the man outlining the issue, its concerns, and gave him a chance to respond.
"Given the nature of the allegations and our responsibility to ensure the safety of our members, we consider it fair and appropriate that the alleged offender not attend any National Party or Young National functions, pending the outcome of the police investigation," a party spokesman said in a statement.
"Our focus has always been to ensure that the alleged victim had every measure of support and advice open to her, and we have done that. We must also consider due process when any issue is raised and offer those affected an opportunity to respond before a final decision is made."
The Newsroom website reported yesterday that a 17-year-old woman had gone to police after alleged inappropriate touching and behaviour by the Young National member following a Young Nats Christmas Party at Brew Bar on Quay in Auckland on Tuesday last week.
The police have confirmed they are investigating the alleged incident.
The 19-year-old man told Newsroom today he learned of the complaint only after it was reported on the news website and he gave a differing version of events than the young woman had outlined to Newsroom earlier.
Yesterday morning, party president Peter Goodfellow said National did not know the identity of either of the young people at the centre of the allegations.
Speaking to media this morning, Goodfellow said: "We understand that they don't want us to know, and that's why we haven't been advised."
He said he found out about the alleged incident last week. "I don't know who the victim is and I don't know any details about the victim.
"As soon as we were advised that there was an incident, we acted very quickly within our health and safety guidelines to offer support and advice to the person who advised us, who was an intermediary and not the alleged victim," Goodfellow told media yesterday.
National leader Simon Bridges said yesterday he learned about the matter late last week and had sought assurances that everything had been handled and dealt with appropriately.
Bridges said he was not concerned about any cultural issues within the Young Nats because "ultimately, the health and safety plan was followed".
