A rogue Labor MP who accused the Victorian Premier’s office of bullying has demanded Daniel Andrews publicly apologise amid a rocky start to the year for the Premier.
Kaushaliya Vaghela claimed she suffered in silence for years and was treated as a nuisance by the Premier’s office when she initially made a bullying complaint in 2019.
Her bullying claims were made public this month after she broke party rules and crossed the floor to vote with former minister Adem Somyurek to refer the Labor red shirts rort back to the Ombudsman.
In an interview with the ABC’s 7.30 program, airing on Thursday, Ms Vaghela said she became disempowered by the alleged bullying and wanted to speak out for other victims.
“I suffered in silence, I lost my self-esteem, I felt worthless,” she told the program.
“I want women not to be victim-blamed, I want them to be believed.
“We need to send the message – speak up, you will be believed.”
Ms Vaghela was first elected to parliament in 2018 to represent Melbourne’s outer west but was dumped from preselection for the 2021 election.
She said raising the bullying claims was not to get back at the party.
She told the program that she never would have become a member of parliament had she known what was ahead of her.
“I had not signed up for the abuse over the past three years,” she said.
“I had no idea what was lying ahead. Had I known, I would never have become a member of parliament.”
The upper house MP claimed she first raised her complaints in April 2019 but had to wait more than two years for them to be taken seriously.
Ms Vaghela alleges she was bullied from the day she was elected by a group of men aligned with the party’s Socialist Left faction, including a staffer of the Premier and others who were not employed by the Premier’s office or the party.
She said they would routinely harass and intimidate her at public events.
“I made numerous calls to the PPO (Premier’s private office) forxjmtzyw assistance and requested that the bullies be brought into line. I was largely ignored,” she said.
“The Premier says the staff member concerned was sacked. I was never informed, nor did I receive an apology from (the) Premier or his office, leaving him in that position for years despite my complaints, thus perpetrating his bullying against me.”
The Premier this week pushed back against claims his office had inappropriately dealt with the bullying.
The matter has now been referred to WorkSafe.
“A complaint was made, the complaint was dealt with appropriately, the member has then decided to run a commentary about other matters,” Mr Andrews said on Tuesday.
“I’m not going to be providing you with blow-by-blow commentary or answering every question that you might want answered about it.
“It’s not appropriate for me to be answering them beyond what I’ve said.”
