Lidia Thorpe claims former boyfriend Dean Martin — uncle of Richmond champion Dusty — can’t be deported as he is Aboriginal
Outspoken Victorian senator Lidia Thorpe says the pending deportation of former bikie boss Dean Martin — her ex-boyfriend and the uncle of Richmond champion Dustin — is a “mistake” as he is Indigenous.
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Outspoken Victorian Senator Lidia Thorpe has accused the federal government of making “a mistake” over the deportation of Dean Martin, claiming that he is an Aboriginal man.
Martin, the bikie uncle of Richmond champion Dustin Martin, was arrested on Monday and is set to be deported to New Zealand.
Senator Thorpe, who has previously dated Martin, said she hoped the 56-year-old fought the order.
“How can an Aboriginal man be deported from his own country?,” she told the Herald Sun.
“Government has made a mistake.
“He has proof and support and connection to elders and community in Tasmania.”
Senator Thorpe said she hadn’t spoken to Martin about the issue but questioned why the government thought it could go against the law and deport First Peoples.
“We’ve already seen the High Court rule in 2020 that the Commonwealth lacks constitutional power to deport First Peoples under the Migration Act,” she said.
“The 2020 ruling reflected the Mabo decision, which recognised that First Peoples connection to this country has never been severed.
“This connection is recognised by the common law, so categorising First Peoples as ‘alien’ is inconsistent with this.”
Dean Martin is a former national president of the Rebels outlaw motorcycle gang and held office-bearer positions with the outfit for more than a decade.
His relationship with Thorpe caused a furore when it was exposed in 2022.
Martin reportedly has no criminal convictions but has been of interest to organised crime investigators – including the Victoria Police Echo Taskforce – for years.
It is believed his visa has been cancelled on character grounds.
His brother Shane, who was also a senior member of the Rebels, was deported to New Zealand in 2018.
Shane died three years later in Auckland, as his son continued to carve out one of the legendary AFL careers at Tigerland.
Dean was arrested on Monday, pending deportation to New Zealand, and is being held in Australian Border Force custody.
The Herald Sun has been told he has in the past held the positions of Victorian and Australian president with the Rebels.
Martin has long been attached to the OMCG’s western suburbs-based Sunshine chapter.
Senator Thorpe said in 2022 that she had “briefly dated” Martin.
That link caused concern among her office staff at the time because she was sitting on a joint parliamentary law enforcement committee.
They reported the relationship to Greens leader Adam Bandt and to the Parliamentary Workplace Support Service.
Ms Thorpe, who is now an independent MP, told the ABC they met through “Blak activism” and that they remained friends.
Martin did face court in 2013 when, as Sunshine club president, he was charged over liquor licence breaches at the Fairbairn Rd clubhouse.
He pleaded guilty and was fined without conviction.
In 2016, he led a CBD protest against what the Rebels said was unfair treatment by the federal government and the media.
Mr Martin said at the time that members were being victimised and slandered as criminals and drug dealers.
Dozens of bikies and other criminals, many who left NZ as children, have been deported in recent years.
Character grounds provisions in section 501 of the Migration Act have been used in cases where the target has no serious convictions.
Authorities have used visa cancellations to cause the Rebels considerable grief in the past decade.
Club supremo Alex Vella had his torn up while he holidayed in Malta in 2014 and has not made it back Down Under.
Aaron AJ Graham, a founding member of the Rebels Tasmanian chapter, was deported to New Zealand in 2017.
The Rebels are regarded as one of the “big-six” Australian outlaw motorcycle gangs, along with the Hells Angels, Mongols, Comancheros, Bandidos and Finks.
Australian Border Force was contacted for comment and referred questions to the Department of Home Affairs, which declined to comment.
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