Labour MP Liz Craig believed processes in place for summer camp party

Labour MP Liz Craig says she had believed there were processes in place to ensure there was proper supervision and no underage drinking at a Young Labour summer camp during which a 20-year-old allegedly indecently assaulted some attendees.

Craig was the only MP who stayed at the Waihi camp on the night of the Young Labour Summer School party after which four people aged between 16 and 18 complained that a 20-year-old had indecently assaulted or harassed them, including putting his hands down the pants of three of them.

Craig said she went to bed early because of an early flight the next day and was not aware of the alleged sexual misconduct and underage drinking until it was reported in the media.

"I was absolutely dismayed because up until that point I had no idea these events had happened."

Attendees have since described the night as involving a walk-in chiller full of alcohol, underage drinking and excessive drinking while the main supervisor had gone to bed at about 9pm.

Craig, a list MP based in Invercargill, had put a photo on Facebook of herself at a table with some camp attendees who were drinking alcohol but said she did not drink herself because she was a non-drinker.

"I stayed overnight and attended a quiz early on the Saturday evening. I'm a non-drinker myself but there was alcohol at the quiz event that had been brought by participants. However, at the point I went to bed I was aware of two things.

"One was that policies were in place so that young people under 18 were not drinking. The second thing was that members of the organising team were staying up to oversee the evening's events. So I went to bed understanding those processes were in place.

"Obviously the adequacy of those processes later on in the evening is now the subject of an internal review."

Craig said the events had been "incredibly stressful" for those involved and she would not make further comment.

After coming under fire for its handling of the aftermath of that night, Labour has appointed lawyer Maria Berryman to conduct an independent review of what happened and the processes for dealing with it.

The terms for that review were released yesterday. Berryman will look at whether the Labour Party's processes at the time of the camp were lawful, whether they were applied correctly and whether a safe environment was provided for attending young people.
It will also assess the management of events and handling of complaints.

Berryman will have the power to make recommendations to the Labour Party, but won't be looking specifically into the four complaints.

The lawyer will also be available for anyone who wishes to come forward about alleged sexual assaults at any previous Labour Party events after some complaints that it had happened before.

Ardern has said Labour's handling of the camp fallout fell short of what was expected and too much responsibility was given to the Young Labour organisers but she did not believe anybody should lose their jobs over it.

The party has put in place interim measures, including a halt to all Young Labour events and a ban on alcohol at events attended by underage people.

Labour's general secretary Andrew Kirton would not comment this morning saying it was now being investigated "and there needs to be a level of confidentiality".