‘We don’t want another Lidia Thorpe’: Indigenous activist accuses Greens of racism

One of Western Australia’s most prominent indigenous advocates has accused the WA Greens of being racist after her nomination to run for the party in the looming federal election was blocked over concerns she would become “another Lidia Thorpe”.

Menang Noongar woman Megan Krakouer has lodged a human rights complaint against the party over the preselection process for the federal seat of Fremantle, which she said mischaracterised and “humiliated” her.

Megan Krakouer has accused the WA Greens of racism.Credit: Steven Siewert

A Greens volunteer vetting Krakouer’s nomination made the “we don’t want another Lidia Thorpe” comment to one of her referees, who was so offended by that and two other questions about her race that she made official complaints to the party.

“He asked how Megan would respond if she didn’t agree with a Greens position on an issue and it could possibly impact on her integrity how would she react/respond,” the referee’s complaint states.

“... he went on to say ‘we don’t want another Lidia Thorpe’.”

The other questions asked by the Greens volunteer at the centre of the complaint included whether Krakouer had endorsement from Aboriginal elders and whether her referee was related to her in a “blackfella way”.

“Another question asked was whether I am related to Megan, my response was no I’m not. He then asked if I was related to Megan ‘blackfella way’,” the complaint says.

Krakouer also lodged her own complaint to the party.

WA Greens director Dean Smith said the vetter had been spoken to and had acknowledged that mentioning Lidia Thorp was inappropriate, as was his question about her referee’s relationship with her.

Krakouer has been an activist om Indigenous issues for decades and is director of the National Suicide Prevention and Trauma Recovery Project and the South West Aboriginal Land and Sea Council. She made national headlines in 2023 when she reversed her opposition to the Voice referendum.

She left the Greens in January to run in the senate for Fatima Payman’s Australia’s Voice party.

Krakouer told this masthead she was deeply offended by the line of questioning her referee experienced – particularly over the question of endorsement from elders.

“In a way, it becomes a veiled attempt to question the candidate’s true identity, asking, ‘Is she really Aboriginal?’,” she said.

“The process was incredibly frustrating and, in my opinion, was deeply influenced by racism, discrimination, and prejudice.”

Krakouer said the Thorpe comment was totally inappropriate.

“I am not Lidia Thorpe, and while I deeply respect her, my approach to politics is different,” she said.

“The question posed by the [vetter] assumed a far-left alignment to my political views, which was not only an oversimplification but also mischaracterised my political stance.

“It reduced a well-respected and accomplished Indigenous leader to a negative stereotype, and made an unfair assumption about my own political approach.”

She blasted the party for its indifference to her embarrassment and its handling of the official complaints.

“In my opinion, the Greens have a significant problem with racism and a lack of respect for First Nations people,” she said.

“It became apparent that I was being treated as a target rather than as an individual with my own unique contributions to offer.

“The entire process felt more like an orchestrated effort to suppress voices like mine rather than a fair and transparent assessment of candidates.

“There were repeated vexatious claims made against me, but despite these claims, there was no impartial or thorough investigation.”

Krakouer was encouraged by Greens members to nominate for Fremantle after narrowly missing out on upper house preselection in April last year for Saturday’s WA election.

In August last year she began receiving objections from within corners of the party who were against her nomination.

A WA Greens spokeswoman emphatically rejected the accusation that the process was racist or manipulated in a way to adversely impact her.

“Ms Krakouer was in the party for a brief time before she nominated to be a candidate, and was disappointed not to gain nomination for the seat of Fremantle,” she said.

“The Greens WA followed our usual preselection process, which seeks to identify issues which may adversely impact the candidate and campaign, and reject the suggestion that doing so singles her out.

“While Ms Krakouer is now running for a rival party, we will respect her privacy by not discussing the reasons for that decision.”

The party said it was not yet aware of Krakouer’s Human Rights Commission complaint.

Lidia Thorpe has been contacted for comment.

Start the day with a summary of the day’s most important and interesting stories, analysis and insights. Sign up for our Morning Edition newsletter.