Outspoken political activist Lidia Thorpe has record of controversy

When Lidia Thorpe first entered the Senate in late 2020, she briefly raised her fist, a sign of the political activism that was to come.

Victorian senator Lidia Thorpe. Picture: Getty Images

When Lidia Thorpe first entered the Senate in late 2020, she briefly raised her fist, a sign of the political activism that was to come.

Fast-forward to mid-2022, when Senator Thorpe was sworn in a second time, and her fist remained raised for the duration of her oath of allegiance, which sparked outrage when she referred to the Queen as a “coloniser”.

Senator Thorpe’s short political career in federal parliament has been colourful, most notably when she was forced to quit as party deputy leader in the Senate after she made what Adam Bandt called a “significant error of judgment” by failing to disclose her relationship with a former bikie boss.

The relationship took place while she was a member of the joint parliamentary law enforcement committee in 2021, raising a potential conflict of interest as it has scrutinised bikie gangs in the past.

Aboriginal elder Geraldine Atkinson also complained about Senator Thorpe’s treatment of her, alleging she was left “physically ill and shaken” following a meeting between the pair. And Senator Thorpe had to unreservedly apologise for interjecting during a parliamentary debate “at least I keep my legs shut”, directed at Liberal senator Hollie Hughes.

Born in Carlton in 1973, Senator Thorpe was the first Aboriginal woman to represent Victoria in the upper house and before that was the first Indigenous woman elected to the state parliament.

A Djabwurrung Gunnai Gunditjmara woman, she has been the Greens’ First Nations, republic and sport spokeswoman and is co-founder of the Blak Greens.

“For an Aboriginal girl raised in poverty and public housing, who left school at 14, the idea that I could make it all the way to this nation’s parliament was laughable,” Senator Thorpe said in her first speech.

“People like me were not meant to end up in places like this. Our voices were silenced, sidelined and written out of the story of our own country. But I never gave up believing that better days were possible.”

 

Senator Thorpe has protested at Invasion Day rallies rubbishing the Indigenous voice to parliament proposal and undermined the advisory body for months, and been pushing for a treaty before a voice.

Although she received a large number of personal, below-the-line votes last May, suggesting she has high name recognition, she is at best middle-ranking among all the crossbenchers in terms of the percentage of the vote received.

Senator Thorpe received 40,174 votes from Victorians who chose to fill out their Senate ballot paper below the line, the second-highest personal vote of the 18 crossbenchers and behind only former Victorian Greens colleague Janet Rice, who was re-elected in 2019.

However, factoring in Victoria’s population being the second-highest of all states and territories, Senator Thorpe only ranks ninth of 18, with 1.05 per cent of the state’s vote. Teal independent David Pocock received the highest below-the-line vote share of the 18 crossbenchers, with 5.45 per cent of ACT voters putting a “1” next to his name.

Greens senators Nick McKim and Peter Whish-Wilson, both from Tasmania, Larissa Waters from Queensland and Senator Rice all received a higher percentage vote than Senator Thorpe. Both Jacqui Lambie and her JLN colleague Tammy Tyrrell also ranked above Senator Thorpe.