Independent Senator Lidia Thorpe doubles down on controversial strip club clash
Lidia Thorpe has made a series of wild new comments, doubling down on her strip club clash and accusing female MPs of “staggering around drunk”.
Independent senator Lidia Thorpe has accused female MPs of “staggering around drunk” at Parliament House and slamming speculation about her own health after her strip club fracas.
Speaking today on Melbourne radio, the former Greens Senator said she dismissed Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s comments about her mental stability as a joke.
“I laughed at that. If Albo wants to know about my health, then I’ve been diagnosed with an allergy to racists,” she told 3AW host Neil Mitchell.
“I think about in the parliament each day, where I’ve had Senators cry to me because of their guilt of what white people did to black people.
“I wonder about those people’s mental health.”
Senator Thorpe said some female Senators were so drunk at work she had to help them get home safely.
“I wonder about the mental health of Senators who are staggering around drunk by themselves – female – at night, where I have gone to their aid to make sure that they get back to their hotel safely,” she said.
Dramatic CCTV footage emerged this month of Senator Thorpe abusing a group of men outside Maxine’s Gentleman’s Club in Brunswick, Victoria, accusing them of stealing her land and making lewd comments about their genitalia.
Senator Thorpe said she had a “great time” at the strip club and it was only when she stepped outside there was a problem.
“So what? I was celebrating my girlfriend’s 50th birthday,” she said.
The fracas included her telling one man he had a small penis.
“I said he had a small penis because what so-called man has a go at a Senator … as I am leaving. You have to have a small genital to do that,” she said.
Senator Thorpe said it was not possible for her to be racist towards Australians who are not black.
“We cannot be racist to white people,” she said. “White people don’t fall into that category.
“I responded to an aggressive white male who was being very disrespectful of me.”
She dismissed suggestions her own family was planning a takeover of the voice in Victoria.
“I think that’s hilarious. Making out we are some sort of mafia family,’’ she said.
Security footage obtained exclusively by news.com.au reveals that the MP circles a group of men waiting outside the club before pointing her finger at them and shouting about the size of their genitalia.
At one point she also whips out her own iPhone to film the patrons who were filming her.
In the confrontation, which takes place partially off camera in the iPhone footage, Senator Thorpe can also be seen walking up to a man with his back to the wall of Maxine’s Gentleman’s Club before shouting abuse.
The independent, who earns more than $200,000 a year as a Senator, split with the Greens earlier this year.
“Wish I got paid $200,000 to behave like that,” said strip club manager David Ross. “She starts walking up to people putting it in their face and taking photos of them.”
Ms Thorpe has been banned for life from the strip club in Brunswick, an inner-city suburb in Melbourne.
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