Luke should swap last names with Ashleigh.

I always suspected he was a wrong'un.

I'm curious to know why she didn't immediately report the incident?

Prime Minister for Canyons wrote on Nov 8^th, 2018 at 12:25pm:


I believe her, but I'm wondering if she failed to report it for political reasons?

Should Foley be charged with sexual assault?

STATEMENT BY ASHLEIGH RAPER

This is a position I never wanted to be in and a statement I never intended to make.

But I think the time has come for my voice to be heard, for the following reasons:

The escalation of the public debate, including in state and federal parliament, despite my expressed wish to neither comment nor complain, and the likelihood of ongoing media and political interest.

Two recent phone conversations with the Leader of the New South Wales Opposition Luke Foley.

To set the record straight.

In November 2016 I attended an official Christmas function at New South Wales Parliament House for state political reporters, politicians and their staff.

This is what happened on that night.

The party moved from Parliament House to Martin Place Bar after a number of hours.

Later in the evening, Luke Foley approached a group of people, including me, to say goodnight.

He stood next to me.

He put his hand through a gap in the back of my dress and inside my underpants.

He rested his hand on my buttocks.

I completely froze.

This was witnessed by Sean Nicholls, who was then the state political editor at the Sydney Morning Herald and is now an ABC journalist.

Mr Foley then left the bar.

Sean and I discussed what happened.

As shaken as I was, I decided not to take any action and asked Sean to keep the events in the strictest confidence.

He has honoured that.

I chose not to make a complaint for a number of reasons.

It is clear to me that a woman who is the subject of such behaviour is often the person who suffers once a complaint is made.

I cherished my position as a state political reporter and feared that would be lost.

I also feared the negative impact the publicity could have on me personally and on my young family.

This impact is now being felt profoundly.

When a reporter contacted me earlier this year after hearing about the incident, I informed ABC news management about Mr Foley’s actions.

I told them I didn’t wish to make a complaint or for any further action to be taken.

They respected my request for privacy and have offered me nothing but their absolute care and support.

David Elliot raised the matter in the New South Wales Parliament last month, putting the incident in the public domain.

The matter then became a state and federal political issue and resulted in intense media attention.

This occurred without my involvement or consent.

Last Sunday (4 November) Luke Foley called me on my mobile phone and we had a conversation that lasted 19 minutes.

He said he was sorry and that he was full of remorse for his behaviour towards me at the Press Gallery Christmas function in November 2016.

He told me that he had wanted to talk to me about that night on many occasions over the past two years because, while he was drunk and couldn’t remember all the details of the night, he knew he did something to offend me.

He apologised again and told me, “I’m not a philanderer, I’m not a groper, I’m just a drunk idiot”.

He said he would be resigning as the leader of the New South Wales Labor Party on either the next day (Monday, 5 November) or Wednesday (7 November).

He said he couldn’t resign on the Tuesday because it was Melbourne Cup Day and he didn’t want to be accused of burying the story.

On Tuesday (6 November) Mr Foley called me again.

He repeated his apology and told me he owed me “a lot of contrition”.

He informed me he’d received legal advice not to resign as Opposition Leader.

He indicated he intended to follow that advice.

There are three things I want to come from my decision to make this statement.

First, women should be able to go about their professional lives and socialise without being subject to this sort of behaviour.

And I want it to stop.

Second, situations like mine should not be discussed in parliament for the sake of political point scoring.

And I want it to stop.

Third, I want to get on with my life.

I do not wish to make any further comment.

https://about.abc.net.au/statements/statement-8-november-2018/

Prime Minister for Canyons wrote on Nov 8^th, 2018 at 12:54pm:


Luke Foley is an utter piece of schhit.

He told the reported he was sorry for what he did, said he'd resign then reneged on legal advice, all the while calling the allegations lies and
daring the Liberal MP to repeat them without parliamentary privilege.

Gordon wrote on Nov 8^th, 2018 at 1:00pm:




Dont get me wrong,  I agree I'm just pointing out that her explanation of why she chose not to complain is proven by recent events

cods wrote on Nov 8^th, 2018 at 1:03pm:



Given your intelligence throughout every section of this page, pretty sure is unconvincing.

This guy....

As recently as this morning, Mr Foley insisted he was confident he would be Opposition Leader at the time of next year's election.

    "Yes, and premier beyond it," Mr Foley said.

He said he dealt with the allegations "comprehensively" during a press conference last month.

Gordon wrote on Nov 8^th, 2018 at 1:09pm:



like I said gordon  he is the NSW Labor Leader... no one would expect him to do that......Ican guess everyone was in shock when it happened....

and you know men have a habit of blaming grog on everything.......and making allowances for it...he even used it himself....

come on gordon  in hindsight how many of us would do things differently??...

some one did talk about it...for Elliot to know....a

and dont forget foley denied it didnt he???????????......

so hes a liar to boot.

I wonder who ratted on him to the Libs?

Maybe she has spoken about it too much in private conversations to colleagues.

He is toast anyway now!

Cant say I liked him much anyway always seemed a creepy character!

I'm sure Ashleigh has quite a cute bum as bums go ... but Mr. Foley ought to have adopted a look - no touch approach for sure.

He has to go, taking with him any chance that State Labor had in the election.

Captain Nemo wrote on Nov 8^th, 2018 at 4:07pm:




oh dear..

I wouldnt think its acceptable for anyone to slide a hand under someones dress and into their underwear..


this has got to be a NEW LOW for AUSSIE POLITICS..

..

ye gods  we are still dealing with Barnaby and his lies and indecent treatment of his wife and family...

now we have another creep...how dare he stay where he is    Barnaby needed a shove surly the man learnt something from that episode   or do our members think they really are UNTOUCHABLE>..

get out Foley... NOW.

If you think this bloke is the only creep in parliment then think again. This is reality.
How many affairs happen at "work functions"? Especially high profile ones. I've heard from first hand whitness of some weird fuctt up shyte going on at high profile parties. People you'd least expect. Doing all sorts. It happens.

Is this foley character married? My guess is this wouldn't be the first woman this arsehole has assaulted. He'd be neck deep in these hook ups. Most women would take it on too. Sex is real. It is human behavior and pleasure. He may regret it now but at the time the alcohol gave this bloke a reality of who he is. Truth always comes out with grog. He'd be thinking thoughts like this inside his fuctt up head all the time when sober, he just doesn't act on them.

Aussie wrote on Nov 8^th, 2018 at 4:57pm:


Here is another link.

Quote:


What I don't know is what he was referring to there.

Oh well, there goes Raper's wish that the matter be left alone and that she be allowed to move on.

Gordon wrote on Nov 8^th, 2018 at 12:19pm:

Is there any video of this allegation, I would like to see it and judge it for myself.

She's ugly anyway

cods wrote on Nov 8^th, 2018 at 1:03pm:


one I am pretty sure was politically motivated   ..

This was released in Parliament against her wishes for political reasons - nothing else ?

He's lawyered up and staying on as MP.

He's calling the reporter a liar.

https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/luke-foley-resigns-as-nsw-labor-leader-follo...

Agnes wrote on Nov 8^th, 2018 at 7:12pm:


Ags, I reckon it would have been shock and disbelief that it was happening.

Gordon wrote on Nov 8^th, 2018 at 7:18pm:


Sure....if he went straight for the grope.....but that is not what is being described.  His hand goes to her bare back.....ok.....she thinks...WTF......but then it moves south.....and......from what is described it moves to her arse cheeks.......plenty of time to move away before it got there.

But.....that is not my point anyway.  She wanted it buried...she did not want anything to come of it....yet someone has ignored what she wanted. 

Oh well, schit fight on, and she gets tossed to the political and personal scrap-heap.

Raper' raped' by politics.

So who leaked the story? Raper - probably not. Foley  - probably not. Nicholls - the man of honour?

"As shaken as I was, I decided not to take any action and asked Sean to keep the events in the strictest confidence.

He has honoured that."

Agnes wrote on Nov 8^th, 2018 at 7:48pm:


Freezing in times of stress is a common reaction.
Google fight, flight,freeze.

Gordon wrote on Nov 8^th, 2018 at 7:55pm:

google "me too movement" and how its infecting everything right now- mostly males- its all too nasty- Im out- open your eyes guys- both of them

Gordon wrote on Nov 8^th, 2018 at 12:19pm:

Dnarever wrote on Nov 8^th, 2018 at 9:23pm:



are you saying only people who are sexually attractive to the mainstream groupthink have lustful urges?
thats not going to fly.

a high status male who is grounded in core confidence CAN make his initial approach to a woman a physical approach but for your average Joe Lunchbox, it would be a disaster.

there have certainly been occasions where men who can read body language and can read pupil dilation and can maintain good eye contact and not blink and show the signs of entitlement of a true alpha could do this and it would run smoothly.
but thats rare.
the woman would have to believe that the "prince had come".
she would have to believe that she has been chosen by the legitimate guy of the venue.

would there have been occasions where warren beatty or russell brandt or john kennedy or harvey from suits or micheal buble were able to do such a physical approach and have it work ?
probably yes.

but luke foley isnt built like that.

when a beta male tries it, it just comes accross as creepy.

and then he confirms hes a beta (an inferior male) by lying afterwards, by being indecisive, by emotionally threatening to sue, by not being able to man up and by letting the pressure of the group think make him into a coward.

so work on your masculinity guys, before you start trying to play at an elite level.
Luke obviously was not elite

would there have been occasions where warren beatty or russell brandt or john kennedy or harvey from suits or micheal buble were able to do such a physical approach and have it work ?
probably yes



seriously aqua   its hard to read that.... what utter rubbish....this was inside her clothing....you dont seem to understand  what sort of violation that would be....its bad enough if a bloke thinks its ok to either slap or pinch a women on her butt.....and thats on the outside of her clothing..... she wouldnt LIKE IT  I can promise you..

maybe you wouldnt mind you wife being violated by some one who looked alpha...


people are intimidated by Celebrity..... look how long it took to get Bill Cosby...

but no one claims its ok  because of how you look...

Im not turning on the alleged "victim" cods  Im just questioining the veracity of her claim and I think I have a right too- it sounds dodgy to me

I can't imagine this is a one of.

Agnes wrote on Nov 9^th, 2018 at 7:33am:



i'll tell you one thing.
you go messing around with horses without having full emotional mastery and you will get hurt.
and luke shouldnt be messing around with women without full emotional mastery.
he got bucked off  and stomped on.
treat a filly correctly with good positive energy and they will be sweet.
creep around, try to be sneaky, touch in an unmasterful way and you will get bit and kicked 

cherie... make sure you never act like a horse...

Mr light made more sense.

Several have mentioned Rapers reaction time and why didn't she move away once hand made contact with skin...... if you've seen some of the open backed dresses worn today you would know the distance from the dress line to the the knickers/butt is not very far... so it could have been a fairly fast occurrence before she could react.

Raper made her decisions clear because of what she believed would happen..... and she was 100% correct.

To me its mention in Parliament was all politically motivated point scoring because muck raking/ mud slinging is all our politicians are good at...

In this case I believe her and think the lying piece of shyte Foley should be booted out of office & out of the Labor Party.

cods wrote on Nov 9^th, 2018 at 7:40am:



go and ponder the fact that 50 shades was a world wide sensation and that hundreds of millions of women enjoyed watching a man be dominant and then get back to me with whether you speak for all women or just for all prudish women 

aquascoot wrote on Nov 9^th, 2018 at 8:01am:



silly argument   you are looking at the one women who neither read nor watched anything to do with it..

but I presume you lapped it up   you know so much about it  you must have done....

so by your logic   every man that looked through a Playboy magazine went around  grabbing women and putting their hands down the back of the pants ....

you sir have got to be kidding......

erotica has been around since adam and eve   where the hell have you been?

cods wrote on Nov 9^th, 2018 at 8:11am:



i cant find a logical stream in that paragraph.

so heres my logic.

1  men are always going to approach women, thats biological and has been going on for 300 million years.
2  men are most likely going to be rejected in most approaches
3  men are more likely to succeed if they know how to approach.
4  women vary enormously in how they need to be apporached.
5  a man needs to adjust and course correct in real time if he is not to be destroyed
6  foley could not do this, but that does not mean that some men in a situation where women are in a social situation, could not do this .
7  if you think that because you didnt watch 50 shades , that no women watched it and enjoyed it and fantasised about it then you are wrong.
8  and the fantasy is that many women just want a strong man to take control
9  if thats not you, fine, but you dont speak for all women

Prime Minister for Canyons wrote on Nov 8^th, 2018 at 12:25pm:


Lack of supporting evidence is.... his resignation seems a clincher though... but given the current climate of Star Chambers in such things, is more likely to be a political move...

Is there a statement from the witness?

More importantly, who replaced him?

Anyway - some people need to re-learn the gentile art of seducing a woman with soft words and empathising with her, taking one's time, rather than making schoolboy gropes...

aquascoot wrote on Nov 9^th, 2018 at 7:27am:


"crime"?

It's an allegation, isn't it?

Well, using your "logic", Donald Trump has committed at least 22 crimes.

The 22 women who have accused Trump of sexual misconduct

Bias_2012 wrote on Nov 9^th, 2018 at 11:48am:

totally agree- im voting Clive Palmer next time

Grappler Truth Teller Feller wrote on Nov 9^th, 2018 at 9:55am:


Would a witness statement make it more believable?

"Tiffany Doe, a witness, was an employee of Defendant Epstein:

"I personally witnessed the Plaintiff (Jane Doe ) being forced to perform various sexual acts with Donald J. Trump and Mr. Epstein.

"Both Mr. Trump and Mr. Epstein were advised that she was 13 years old."

Donald Trump & Jeffrey Epstein Rape Lawsuit and Affidavits

Johnnie wrote on Nov 9^th, 2018 at 3:33pm:


So, is Trump guilty of raping that 13 year old girl?

He hasn't been proven innocent.

greggerypeccary wrote on Nov 9^th, 2018 at 3:45pm:

Exactly, in your eyes Trump is guilty until proven innocent.
That's not the way the law works.

Johnnie wrote on Nov 9^th, 2018 at 3:51pm:


So why did you say this?

"guilty until proven innocent"

I'm curious.

Johnnie wrote on Nov 9^th, 2018 at 3:57pm:


No.

You are.

You said  "guilty until proven innocent".

Then you said "That's not the way the law works".

So, if you think Foley is guilty, you must also think that Trump is guilty of raping that 13 year old girl.

Yes?

greggerypeccary wrote on Nov 9^th, 2018 at 3:59pm:

Have you never heard the term "guilty until proven innocent" its a mock, like a hanging judge.

greggerypeccary wrote on Nov 9^th, 2018 at 4:10pm:

That's not for me to say, or you.
I will say this, there is a big trend towards these sort off accusations.

greggerypeccary wrote on Nov 9^th, 2018 at 4:21pm:

I want to see the video footage so I can decide for myself.

Gordon wrote on Nov 9^th, 2018 at 3:49pm:


Mr Foley’s behaviour had been openly discussed in Labor circles for many months,


You mean that there was gossip about rumours ?

Dnarever wrote on Nov 9^th, 2018 at 7:21pm:

Luke didn't have to resign and he hasn't been convicted of anything.