Greens Senator Lidia Thorpe dated ex-Rebels bikie boss Dean Martin while on parliamentary panel

Lidia Thorpe was in the relationship while she received confidential briefings on bikie gangs and organised crime.

Greens Senator Lidia Thorpe and Dean Martin. Picture: Facebook

Greens senator Lidia Thorpe has admitted to briefly dating an ex-bikie boss while serving on a parliamentary law enforcement committee.

Senator Thorpe has confirmed she briefly dated former Rebel president Dean Martin and failed to disclose the relationship at the time despite working on the joint parliamentary law enforcement committee in which she received confidential briefings about bikie gangs and organised crime.

Greens leader Adam Bandt announced on Thursday that he had asked Senator Thorpe for her resignation as deputy Senate leader, and from the leadership team, after learning about the one-time relationship.

She will remain as the party’s spokeswoman for First Nations issues.

SENATOR ADMITS POOR JUDGMENT

Senator Thorpe this afternoon issued a statement, confirming her resignation as deputy Greens leader in the Senate, admitting she had displayed poor judgement in engaging with a former bikie boss.

“I accept that I have made mistakes and have not exercised good judgment,” Senator Thorpe said.

“I will now reflect on this and focus on my important portfolio work, especially advocating for First Nations people.”

Ex Bikie Dean Martin. Picture: Supplied

UNDISCLOSED RELATIONSHIP

Senator Thorpe told the ABC she met Mr Martin, who is the uncle of Richmond AFL star Dusty Martin, early last year.

“We met through Blak activism and briefly dated in early 2021,” she told the ABC.

“We remain friends and have collaborated on our shared interests advocating for the rights of First Nations peoples.”

Dean Martin has no criminal convictions but has a 25-year association with the Rebels, which ended after he stepped down as Victorian chapter president in 2018.

Senator Thorpe’s staff raised concerns about the relationship. Picture: Getty Images

The ABC reports that Senator Thorpe’s staff say she disclosed the relationship to one of her staff members in May last year. A second staff member was told a month later, in June 2021.

It is understood that in a work diary entry dated August 25, 2021 a concerned staff member confronted Senator Thorpe about the relationship and advised her to speak to Mr Bandt’s office, and that she was at “extreme risk of being extorted”.

It is reported that Senator Thorpe and Dean Martin continued to communicate regularly via the encrypted communications app Signal.

ALBANESE ‘CONCERNED’

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese called on Mr Bandt to reveal whether he knew anything about Senator Thorpe’s relationship.

Speaking in Perth, the Prime Minister said the reports were “concerning” and that Australians would expect the nation’s parliament to have integrity and follow proper process.

“My understanding is that Senator Thorpe has been dismissed as the deputy leader of the Green’s political party in the Senate,” Mr Albanese said.

“I think that these are concerning regulations to believe that the oversight processes over the legal system will be maintained in a way, that ensures integrity and ensures that any information which is given there is kept on a confidential basis.

“I note that Senator Thorpe has said that this is an error of judgement, that is the least description that I would put to it. And Adam Bandt has to explain what his office knew and what he knew any fee wasn’t informed about these issues given his office was informed, why that is the case.”

Additional reporting: Jess Malcolm