Natalie Barr questions Indigenous senator Lidia Thorpe after she joins park protest

Lidia Thorpe says Indigenous activists “can’t rely” on politicians after joining an indefinite protest at a public park.

Sunrise host Natalie Barr has questioned an Indigenous senator after she joined activists who have indefinitely camped out in a public Melbourne park, vowing not to leave until the government “gives it back” to the Aboriginal community.

A group of protesters, led by Robbie Thorpe, uncle of independent senator Lidia Thorpe, established “Camp Sovereignty” at Kings Domain near Melbourne’s CBD on Tuesday.

The group has since refused to leave the site, which is a resting place for the repatriated and reburied remains of 38 Aboriginal people.

After Senator Thorpe joined the congregation on Wednesday, Barr host asked if the government should be held responsible for past harms.

“As you said it is an incredibly complex issue that people are struggling to understand. Out there today are people watching who will say, ‘I can’t be held responsible for what happened in the past’. Can you understand that? What do you say to them?” Barr queried.

Lidia Thorpe said the protest was ‘not about taking people’s backyards’. Picture: Andrew Henshaw

Senator Thorpe responded by noting that tens of thousands of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children taken from their families after Australia was colonised.

She said Aboriginal women were the most incarcerated group of women in the entire world and urged against “fear” spread by politicians.

“We want peace. We want unity. We would like to have a treaty which is about a peace agreement,” she said.

“And I understand that there is fear, but don’t listen to the politicians who create this fear. Listen to the ones who want to unite the country and get on with it so that we can be proud of where we live and who we are as a nation.”

Protesters say they plan to stay until the government returns the land to the people of the Kulin nation. Picture: Jake Nowakowski

Senator Thorpe said the failed Voice referendum showed Australia was “divided” as a country and welcomed people to join the indefinite sit-in.

The group’s organisers held a meeting with local council members on Wednesday to discuss a path forward.

“We have so much to share about our own country that this is an opportunity for everyday Australians to get down there and have a yarn,” Senator Thorpe said.

“Let’s start talking about treaty and peace rather than having every 26th of January where everyone is divided.”