Lidia Thorpe facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Lidia Thorpe
|
|
|---|---|
Lidia Thorpe
|
|
| Senator for Victoria | |
| Assumed office 4 September 2020 |
|
| Preceded by | Richard Di Natale |
| Deputy Leader of the Greens in the Senate | |
| In office 10 June 2022 – 20 October 2022 |
|
| Leader | Adam Bandt |
| Preceded by | Office established |
| Member of the Victorian Legislative Assembly for Northcote | |
| In office 18 November 2017 – 24 November 2018 |
|
| Preceded by | Fiona Richardson |
| Succeeded by | Kat Theophanous |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
Lidia Alma Thorpe
18 August 1973 Carlton, Victoria, Australia |
| Political party | Independent (since 2023) |
| Other political affiliations |
Greens (until 2023) |
| Children | 3 |
| Relatives | Alma Thorpe (grandmother) Robbie Thorpe (uncle) |
| Signature |  |
Lidia Alma Thorpe (born 18 August 1973) is an Aboriginal Australian politician. She is from the Gunnai, Gunditjmara, and Djab Wurrung peoples. She has been a senator for Victoria since 2020. She is the first Aboriginal senator from that state.
Lidia Thorpe was a member of the Australian Greens party until February 2023. She then became an independent senator. She left the Greens because she disagreed with their views on the proposed Indigenous Voice to Parliament. She became a key supporter of the "progressive No" campaign for the Voice referendum in October 2023. Thorpe also served as the Greens' deputy leader in the Senate from June to October 2022.
Before becoming a senator, Thorpe was a member of the Victorian Parliament. In 2017, she became the first known Aboriginal woman elected to Victoria's state parliament. She represented the area of Northcote from 2017 to 2018. Thorpe is known for supporting the Blak Sovereign Movement. She has also spoken about how Australian political systems are connected to colonialism.
Contents
Early Life and Education
Lidia Alma Thorpe was born on 18 August 1973 in Carlton, Victoria. Her parents are Roy Illingworth and Marjorie Thorpe. She has English, Irish, Djab Wurrung, Gunnai, and Gunditjmara heritage.
Thorpe grew up in Collingwood. She went to Gold Street Primary School and Fitzroy High School. She left school at age 14. She has said that she learned to use her voice to speak up for herself.
Her first job was helping her uncle Robbie Thorpe at the Koori Information Centre in Fitzroy. This place was important for Aboriginal political activity. She has worked almost continuously since then.
In 2021, she won the Social Impact Award from Swinburne University of Technology. She had earned a Diploma of Community Development from there in 2007.
Early Career
Lidia Thorpe has worked in several important roles. She was a project manager for the East Gippsland Shire Council. She also worked as an Indigenous manager at Centrelink. She managed the Lake Tyers Aboriginal Training Centre.
From 2014 to 2017, Thorpe was the co-chair of the Victorian NAIDOC Committee.
Financial Challenges
In 2013, Lidia Thorpe faced financial difficulties and had significant debts. She explained that these challenges came from a difficult personal situation. She was released from bankruptcy in 2016.
Victorian Parliament Role
.jpg)
Lidia Thorpe won the seat of Northcote in the 2017 by-election on 18 November 2017. She became a member of parliament on 28 November 2017.
As a member of the Australian Greens Victoria, she focused on several areas. These included Aboriginal Justice, Consumer Affairs, Skills and Training, Sport, and Mental Health.
In May 2018, she helped organize a meeting of Aboriginal Elders at the Parliament of Victoria. They discussed how to create treaties for the state. Thorpe wanted to see treaties that recognized the many Aboriginal clans in Victoria. She believed that the sovereignty of each language group and clan should be clear. The elders agreed to form a council. Thorpe supported the government's treaty bill but continued to push for clan sovereignty.
Thorpe lost her seat in the 2018 Victorian state election. Her term ended on 19 December 2018.
Senator for Victoria
In June 2020, Lidia Thorpe was chosen by the Victorian Greens to fill a vacant seat in the federal Australian Senate. She was appointed on 4 September and sworn in on 6 October 2020. She is the first Aboriginal woman to represent Victoria in the Senate. She is also the first Aboriginal federal politician from the Greens party.
After the May 2022 federal election, Thorpe was re-elected. She was then chosen as the Greens' deputy leader in the Senate.
In August 2022, during her swearing-in ceremony, Thorpe added the words "the colonising" to her Oath of Allegiance to Queen Elizabeth II. She said: "I Lydia Thorpe do solemnly and sincerely affirm and declare that I will be faithful and bear true allegiance to the colonising Her Majesty Elizabeth the Second, Queen of Australia, Her heirs and successors according to law." Other senators reacted, and she then recited the oath again without the extra words. Later, she clarified that she had mispronounced "heirs" as "hairs" without meaning to.
In June 2022, Thorpe stated that she was a parliament member to "infiltrate" the "colonial project." She meant she wanted to work within the system to bring about change for Aboriginal people.
Relationship and Conflict of Interest
While holding a justice role for the Greens and serving on a law-enforcement committee, Thorpe was in a relationship with Dean Martin. He had a past connection to a motorcycle club. As a committee member, Thorpe had access to private information about motorcycle clubs. She did not tell her party about the relationship at first.
When confidential documents about motorcycle clubs arrived in her office, a staff member urged her to inform the party leader. She said she was being careful about her communications. The matter was later reported to the Australian Federal Police.
In October 2022, Thorpe resigned from her role as the Greens' deputy leader in the Senate. This happened after her relationship with Martin became public. She referred herself to the Senate privileges committee to address the situation.
In March 2023, a parliamentary investigation cleared Thorpe of misusing sensitive information. However, the committee stated she should have declared her relationship. This would have avoided any appearance of a conflict of interest.
Becoming an Independent Senator
On 6 February 2023, Thorpe announced she would leave the Greens party. She became an independent senator. She explained that she wanted to fully represent the Blak Sovereign Movement in Parliament. She felt she could do this better as an independent.
The 2023 Referendum
- Further information: Uluru Statement from the Heart and 2023 Australian Indigenous Voice referendum
In 2023, Australians voted in a referendum on the Indigenous Voice to Parliament. This was the first referendum since 1999. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese described it as a way to give Indigenous people a say in policies that affect them. However, not all Indigenous Australians supported the idea.
Lidia Thorpe called the proposal "window dressing." She believed it was a distraction from what she saw as real change: truth-telling and recognizing Indigenous sovereignty. She became a key figure in the "Progressive No" campaign. She acknowledged that the proposal had divided the Indigenous community. The referendum was held on 14 October 2023, and the proposal was rejected by voters.
Parliamentary Conduct
In June 2024, during a parliamentary hearing, Thorpe raised questions about how some government funding was used. She asked if a grant had been used for a "holiday house" instead of its intended purpose. The politician she questioned, Marion Scrymgour, denied the claim and said she would take legal action.
On 21 October 2024, Thorpe protested during an address by King Charles III at Parliament House. She shouted, "This is not your land, you are not my King," and spoke about the impact of colonialism. She was escorted away by security. An Aboriginal elder present at the event, Aunty Violet Sheridan, said Thorpe's actions were "disrespectful." Other political leaders also criticized her actions.
On 18 November 2024, the Australian Senate formally criticized Thorpe's actions. This is called a censure motion. It passed with a vote of 46 to 12. The Senate said her actions were "disrespectful and disruptive." A censure is a symbolic action and does not have legal power.
On 27 November 2024, Thorpe was suspended from the Senate for "disorderly conduct." This happened after a confrontation with another senator. She was suspended for the rest of that sitting year. The next morning, she returned to the Senate building and continued to protest. She also attended a rally outside, where she described the actions against her as a "badge of honour." She said she felt the Senate was a "very violent workplace."
Personal Health
In October 2024, Lidia Thorpe shared that she was recovering from injuries. She had been assaulted on 25 May while attending an Australian Rules Football match in Melbourne. A 28-year-old Indigenous woman was charged in connection with the incident. Police described the senator’s injuries as minor. Thorpe stated she had "sustained serious nerve and spinal injuries in [her] neck," which required surgery.
Other Roles and Interests
Lidia Thorpe has held various other roles. She has been a delegate for the Lakes Entrance Aboriginal Education Consultative Group. She was also the Victorian representative to the National Advisory Committee for The Smith Family. She co-chaired the Victorian NAIDOC Committee.
Activism
Thorpe supports the Pay the Rent campaign. This campaign asks non-Aboriginal Australians to voluntarily pay reparations through a specific organization.
Thorpe has been critical of the Uluru Statement from the Heart. She believes that a treaty should come before an Indigenous voice to government. She led a walk-out of the Uluru convention. She felt it did not truly represent the wishes of ordinary Indigenous people.
On Australia Day 2019, Thorpe organized a dawn service at the Kings Domain Resting Place. This was a day of mourning and reflection on the colonisation of Australia. Both Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal people attended.
In February 2023, Thorpe protested during the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras parade. She lay down in front of a police float to protest against police involvement in the parade. The parade was briefly stopped, and she later walked away.
In March 2023, footage showed Thorpe being tackled by a police officer during a demonstration outside Parliament House. She was part of a group protesting against an anti-transgender rights rally. The Australian Attorney-General investigated the incident. Thorpe claimed her treatment by the police was an assault.
When Thorpe's "genocide bill" was rejected by parliament in March 2025, she said it showed the country's "colonial interests."
Award
Thorpe received the Fellowship for Indigenous Leadership in 2008.
Personal Life and Family
Lidia Thorpe's grandmother, Alma Thorpe, helped start the Victorian Aboriginal Health Service in 1973. She was also involved in setting up the Aboriginal Tent Embassy. Lidia's mother, Marjorie Thorpe, was a co-commissioner for the Stolen Generations inquiry. This inquiry produced the Bringing Them Home report in the 1990s. She was also a member of the Council for Aboriginal Reconciliation.
Both Alma and her mother, Edna Brown, were Koori activists. Edna had been forcibly moved from Framlingham Aboriginal Reserve in 1932. Thorpe's sister is Meriki Onus, who co-founded the Warriors of Aboriginal Resistance (WAR) collective. Her uncle is activist Robbie Thorpe, who is involved with the Pay The Rent campaign.
Lidia Thorpe became a single mother at age 17. She has three children and, as of April 2022, four grandchildren.
She enjoys playing Australian rules football and netball.
