Australian politician told female senator to 'stop shagging men', during debate about women and violence

'Shocked, I told him he was a creep,' says Sarah Hanson-Young

An Australian politician has accused a fellow senator of using a debate about women and violence to tell her to “stop shagging men”.

Sarah Hanson-Young, who represents the Green Party in the country, claimed David Leyonhjelm made the remarks during the parliamentary debate before swearing at her when she confronted him.

The senate was debating a motion proposed by crossbencher Fraser Anning to relax importation restrictions on pepper sprays in order to allow women to better protect themselves.

They also discussed a motion about arming women with tasers in a bid to tackle violence.

That Senator Hanson-Young took offence from my comments is an issue for her, not me

David Leyonhjelm

Mr Leyonhjelm - who is also in favour of relaxing gun laws - voted in favour of the motion along with four other senators, but it was defeated 46 votes to five.

Ms Hanson-Young voted against it, on the basis legislation to stop violence against women should be focused on the men responsible.

"After the motion was complete, I walked over to the Senator and confronted him directly," Ms Hanson-Young informed the senate later on Thursday.

"I asked whether I had heard him correctly. He confirmed that he had yelled 'you should stop shagging men, Sarah'.

"Shocked, I told him he was a creep, and he told me to 'f*** off'."

Ms Hanson-Young said Mr Leyonhjelm, a Liberal Democrat senator, refused to apologise for the comments, which she argued were offensive and sexist.

Mr Leyonhjelm did not deny the altercation to ABC and said he would not be withdrawing the remarks.

"Greens senator Sarah Hanson-Young interjected, saying something along the lines of all men being rapists," he said in a statement.

"I responded by suggesting that if this was the case, she should stop shagging men.”

He added: "I do not agree with Senator Hanson-Young's sentiments about all men being rapists and I believe I have the right to voice my opinion accordingly.

"That Senator Hanson-Young took offence from my comments is an issue for her, not me.

"However, I am prepared to rephrase my comments. I strongly urge Senator Hanson-Young to continue shagging men as she pleases."

A spokesman for Ms Hanson-Young, the youngest woman to be elected to federal parliament in Australia, strongly denied Mr Leyonhjelm's claim he was responding to her saying "something along the lines of all men being rapists”.

Ms Hanson-Young said she recalled agreeing with Greens colleague Janet Rice, who at the time said the motion "puts the onus on women to go to extreme lengths to ensure our safety, where the priority must be to eradicate men’s violence".

Her spokesman said she then made the comment "putting tasers on the street isn’t going to protect women from men" which she said Mr Leyonhjelm appeared to be loosely understanding as suggesting all men were rapists.

“She would not say that. That is not her view,” the spokesman told The Sydney Morning Herald.

In debating the motion, the coalition said it had no plans of changing the importation rules for pepper sprays and the Greens accused Mr Anning of trivialising women's safety.

"The last thing that women in Australia need now is another man in power telling us that we are responsible for violence against us," Ms Rice said.

"Senator Anning's motion put the onus on women to go to extreme lengths to ensure our safety, where the priority must be to eradicate men's violence."