Amanda Stoker’s willingness to talk about her bottom has given David Van the distinction of becoming Australia’s first real subject of bi-partisan harassment allegations – the only precedent being the indiscretions freely admitted to by the late Sir Leslie Colin Patterson. But Lidia Thorpe’s detailed description of Canberra interiors – the location of CCTV cameras and blind spots in the corridor outside her office – had already given her denouncement of Senator Van more than a frisson of verité.