Independent senator Lidia Thorpe has accused her former party, the Greens, of racism and says she will lodge a complaint to the Australian Human Rights Commission.
Thorpe made the claim in an interview with the ABC’s Insiders, saying she had not yet lodged the complaint against the Greens– the party she quit earlier this year— and could not confirm when the complaint may be formalised.
“Unfortunately, I can’t comment on that because I have been advised by my lawyers that it does need to be sent to the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission,” Thorpe said, referring to the agency now known as the Australian Human Rights Commission.
“There is enough grounds for a case and I’ll have to leave it there,” she said, declining to say whether the case was in relation to her former colleagues.
Last week, Thorpe claimed her ex-colleague Greens senator Sarah Hanson-Young failed to stand up to racism in the party directed towards her. Senator Hanson-Young has rejected the accusation.
In the ABC interview, Thorpe said: “I don’t want to say anything further. But, yes, I’ve experienced racism all my life in every workplace and the Greens were no different.”
When asked what she’s hoping to get out of this case, she added: “I just want racism stamped out… it’s called institutional racism. It’s the foundation of these institutions that are racist, that allow racism to occur. I think we all need to look at ourselves within and eradicate that and make our workplaces safer.”
The Greens party has said they’re not aware of the complaint and are committed to stamping out racism at work and in parliament.
Thorpe has also foreshadowed that she’ll abstain from a vote for the Indigenous Voice to Parliament, saying “I can’t support something that gives us no power”.
“And I certainly cannot support a No campaign that is looking more like a white supremacy campaign that is causing a lot of harm,” she said, clarifying that she doesn’t “subscribe to either side” and will abstain from both the Yes or No vote.
Thorpe will move an amendment that seeks to add a new chapter to the constitution, explicitly acknowledging Indigenous sovereignty, but it will not be supported by the government.