Lidia Thorpe supports proposed Victorian First Peoples’ Assembly expansion

Victorian Senator Lidia Thorpe has backed the Victorian Government’s proposal for a permanent First Peoples’ Assembly but warned it should not be controlled by the state.

Victorian Senator Lidia Thorpe, a staunch opponent to the federal Voice referendum, has thrown her support behind the Allan Government’s proposal for a Victorian version, but warned the body should not be controlled by the state.

On Wednesday the independent federal MP told the Herald Sun that she was supportive of the state’s proposed expansion of the First Peoples’ Assembly because it was being set up as part of Treaty negotiations.

But, Ms Thorpe cautioned that the Victorian Government should not have power over the Assembly, as it’s “important that this body is not a powerless one, and that it is not shaped by the government of the time”, she said.

Her support for a state body comes after Ms Thorpe fiercely campaigned in 2023 against the Voice to parliament being constitutionally enshrined.

She urged people to vote No, claiming the body was only there to offer advice and would not improve the lives of Indigenous Australians in remote communities.

Senator Lidia Thorpe in the Seante at Parliament House in Canberra. Picture: Martin Ollman

The national Voice proposal was voted down by 60.06 per cent of Australians, including 54.15 per cent of Victorians.

This week Ms Thorpe weighed in on the debate over the Victorian Government’s move to beef-up and make permanent the current taxpayer-funded Assembly saying it was more appropriate.

“There is a distinction between this proposal and the nationally proposed Voice to parliament. Making the First People’s Assembly a permanent body is a result of Treaty negotiations and thereby a result of self-determination, whereas the national Voice was a distraction from the work towards a national Treaty and has fully derailed that process,” Ms Thorpe said.

“Our people know best the solutions to the challenges we’re facing and real self-determination is what is needed. As far as I know, the new permanent body will provide advice on all laws and government policies which affect First Peoples in Victoria, but the real question is whether it will have power beyond this advice and whether government will take the advice and if there will be any accountability mechanisms if they are not.”

Senator Lidia Thorpe after casting her vote in the Indigenous Voice referendum at a polling station at Reservoir. Picture: Andrew Henshaw

On Monday, Premier Jacinta Allan said the expansion of the assembly was not about “changing the constitution”, unlike the Indigenous Voice to parliament and was a “common sense” approach.

“It’s sitting the First Peoples’ Assembly – an ongoing representative body – into our existing parliamentary structures (and) the significant change is it will be a body where we will be listening (and) taking on their advice” she said.

However, the Premier sidestepped all questions about the limit to the assembly’s proposed new powers.

Assembly co-chairs Rueben Berg and Ngarra Murray have previsouly said the “Assembly will ensure First Peoples can make decisions on matters that impact their futures”.