PM says she found out allegation against party staffer was of a sexual nature only from reading media report

New Zealand’s Labour party is in crisis after a 19-year-old member claimed she was sexually assaulted by a staffer who works in parliament house and prime minister Jacinda Ardern said she was not told of the nature of the allegations.

“I’m obviously incredibly frustrated, disappointed and concerned about this situation and the competing advice I have received,” said Ardern, who added that a recent report by the Spinoff was the first time she knew that one of the complaints involved a sexual violation.

The alleged victim said she reported the 2018 assault to senior Labour party members last year, including president Nigel Haworth, but that they failed to act, and cleared the man of six separate complaints after conducting an internal investigation.

The prime minister said a QC would now investigate how the party responded to allegations of misconduct and sexual assault, and failed to throw her support behind Haworth’s continued leadership. The investigation would take about a month, Ardern said, and she would make no decisions on Haworth’s future until the final report was delivered.

In a statement Haworth denied the alleged victim’s account, and said neither he nor the acting general secretary, Dianna Lacy, were ever told of a sexual assault allegation against the staffer.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest New Zealand prime minister Jacinda Ardern Photograph: Hannah Peters/Getty Images

Ardern said on Monday the staffer in question had been working from home for the past five weeks, and that no one in parliament house should feel unsafe, a message reiterated by the speaker of the House, Trevor Mallard.

The 19-year-old told the Spinoff that inaction by senior party figures had left her feeling “angry, quite fearful and desperate”.

She is reportedly one of seven people to have complained about the Labour staffer. The staffer was cleared of any wrongdoing by an internal Labour investigation, and has faced no disciplinary action.

“We went through this whole thing, saying over and over again the stories of what happened, his abuse of power, and we were just stuck,” the victim told the Spinoff website. “There was this whole room of people that were just acting like they were all family members again and nobody wants to talk about the guy who has been accused of sexual assault.”

This is not the first time the Labour party has been accused of negligence regarding accusations of sexual assault. At a young Labour summer camp in 2018, a 21-year-old attendee was charged with groping and inappropriately touching and kissing four other attendees after excessive drinking. The case is before the courts.

Paula Bennett, deputy leader of the opposition National party, has criticised Labour’s handling of assault allegations, and said it had let down victims and left them feeling powerless and scared.

Paula Bennett (@paulabennettmp) At least today the PM admitted there may have been sexual assaults for the first time. I know it’s not much but these victims just want some acknowledgement

Bennett said she had been contacted by a number of the staffer’s alleged victims, after they felt their concerns were not being taken seriously by the party.

New Zealand Police have been contacted for comment.