Mediaboss Marketing

Liberal MP Nicolle Flint has conceded her own party could "absolutely" have done more to provide her with support during the "vicious" 2019 election campaign.

Ms Flint, who is the member for the electorate of Boothby in Adelaide's inner-south, recently revealed her intention toquitfederal politics, saying she would not contest the seat at the next election.

The conservative faction MP yesterdaybroke down in tears in Parliament while describing the harassment and stalking she hadendured during her time in politics.

Among the incidents was an act of vandalism before the 2019 election, in which her campaign office was defaced with the word "skank" and other abusive and sexist graffiti.

Supplied

Speaking on ABC Radio Adelaide this morning, Ms Flint repeated her criticisms of political opponents, including Labor, unions, and activist groups including GetUp.

"There is a lot of work we need to do across the board to support women in politics," she said.

"My issues have been the treatment that I received last election through the activities of GetUp, Labor and the unions."

GetUp today vehemently rejected any suggestion it was to blame for the abusive attacks on her office,saying the "harassment experienced by Nicolle Flint" was"abhorrent".

"We conducted a thorough investigation that confirmed that our staff or members were not involved in any of the alleged behaviour levelled against us in this long-running effort to smear our reputation," the organisation today said.

We campaigned in the seat of Boothby and other key seats with hard-right Liberal MPs, but it is simply wrong to characterise our campaign as harassment or misogyny."

When asked by ABC Radio Adelaide host David Bevan, "What about the women in your South Australian branch did they come out and help you?", Ms Flint conceded the SA Liberalsalso had room for improvement.

"David, can I say about the 2019 campaign, no-one was expecting the vicious nature of the campaign, not me, not anybody," Ms Flint responded.

"Could the South Australian division have done more? Absolutely."

Ms Flint said she did receive support from Prime Minister Scott Morrison and Treasurer Josh Frydenberg.

AAP: David Mariuz

Ms Flint recently clashed with South AustralianHuman Services Minister Michelle Lensink, a fellow Liberal, over abortion reform.

Her electorate is held by the Liberals on a margin of just 1.4 per cent, andMs Flint said she would not be reconsidering her move to quit Parliament.

"I won't change my mind, I've made my decision to step down, but what I will be doing is working as closely as I can with the Sex Discrimination Commissioner Kate Jenkins. I'll be an active part of the review [into the culture of Parliament House]," she said.

"I would love to sit down with some of the senior Labor women and chat to them about how we can all take the aggression out of politics.

"We just need to stop this behaviour from ever happening again. We need to keep people safe, and that's precisely what I said to the Parliament last night, and I'm delighted that people are listening."

The ABC has contacted the SA Liberal branch for comment.

See the article here:
Nicolle Flint admits SA Liberals could have done more to support her during 2019 election - ABC News