Greens Senator Lidia Thorpe branded ‘unfit for office’ in latest criticisms

A former Victoria Police chief commissioner says Lidia Thorpe is “unfit for office” after she called police officers “criminals” at a violent protest.

Former Victoria Police chief commissioner Kel Glare says Victoria Police leadership failed frontline officers by refusing to condemn the conduct of Greens Senator Lidia Thorpe.

Ms Thorpe, who is likely to be re-elected as a Greens Senator for Victoria, has been widely condemned for her actions at a protest at the Melbourne Immigration and Transit Centre at Broadmeadows on Tuesday, where she hurled abuse at police officers.

Ms Thorpe falsely accused police officers of “locking up innocent people” and said they were “the only criminals on this land”.

The immigration detainees at the centre are not in police custody and a small group of detainees who were being moved to Christmas Island consisted of non-citizen sex offenders, drug dealers, armed robbers and domestic violence thugs.

Mr Glare said Ms Thorpe’s conduct showed she was “unfit for office”.

Former Victorian Police commissioner Kel Glare.

Mr Glare said police officers on duty would have had no issue with manning a lawful, peaceful protest, but said it was “appalling” they were abused by an elected representative.

Members of the group Ms Thorpe was leading called police “white supremacists” among other slurs.

“They would have been appalled by the comments and they would have been appalled by the complete lack of support from the police leadership,” Mr Glare said.

A Victoria Police spokeswoman on Wednesday told the Herald Sun the force would not comment on the actions of protesters for privacy reasons, a claim Mr Glare rejected.

Mr Glare said: “Of course they can make comment. Police officers don’t deserve that kind of abuse.”

Mr Glare said the police force routinely criticised conduct that endangered officers, and said “there’s nothing special about parliamentarians” which should put them above criticism.

“I think the whole episode is quite bizarre to me,” he said.

However, the police union are demanding answers from the Greens over Thorpe’s conduct.

In a letter sent to party leader Adam Bandt on Thursday, Police Association head Wayne Gatt said the Senator’s actions “are not befitting” of a member of parliament.

“Her actions amounted to little more than opportunistic grandstanding, using my members as a backdrop for an anti-police branding exercise,” Mr Gatt wrote.

“I write to you to ask you, as the Leader of the Australian Greens, to provide my members with an explanation as to whether Senator Thorpe’s actions towards our members are representative of your Party’s beliefs, and whether any action has been taken against Senator Thorpe for her vile and misdirected public abuse of my members.”

Senator Thorpe said she is “happy to meet with Wayne Gatt and the Police Association to discuss what happened.”

The Greens have refused to condemn Ms Thorpe’s conduct, and in a post on Twitter she said she was “proud” to be described as “crazy” and “angry”.

Originally published as Greens Senator Lidia Thorpe branded ‘unfit for office’ in latest criticisms