Djab Wurrung Gunnai Gunditjmara woman and independent Senator Lidia Thorpe told Green Left the major parties are in a “race to the bottom”.
“Our songlines are being destroyed, our country and waterways are sick. Our priority has always been looking after our land, our water and our people.
“They’re gonna have a fight on their hands: Whether it’s Labor or the Coalition who wins, I’ll keep holding them to account — calling for Treaty, truth-telling and an end to the many injustices my people face.”
Thorpe is opposed to nuclear power, more gas, more destruction of land and water. She said the Anthony Albanese government has been “very disappointing”.
“Labor promised the world and has delivered nothing when it comes to justice for our people,” she said, despite her original hope that First Nations people could get some wins under Labor.
“We heard a lot of promises and lies during the Voice referendum … [Labor] talked about being committed to the Uluru Statement in full, but are now walking back its support for Treaty and Truth-Telling.”
Thorpe said Labor had “done nothing” to stop the ongoing genocide of First Nations people. “More than 24,000 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children are in out of home care and incarceration rates are growing.
“Neither major party will do anything to reduce incarceration rates. Many, including myself, have lost family members to this colonial system.”
Thorpe said she had pushed Labor to commit to tracking deaths in custody, but it refused to commit to ending deaths in custody or implementing the other 338 recommendations of the Royal Commission into Black Deaths in Custody.
She described Queensland and the Northern Territory’s “tough on crime” approach as “veiled politics of racial control” and not solutions to prevent crime.
“Our children are disproportionately imprisoned in the NT, Queensland, Western Australia, Victoria, everywhere.
“From the age of 10, our babies are being locked up, put in the back of divvy vans, strip searched and treated in the most inhumane way by police, while being made out [by the media] to be ‘the problem’.”
She said governments consistently refuse to listen to Elders, parents and community leaders or support community-led solutions.
“The NT has youth programs with no resources to hire youth workers. Instead the government uses Australian Indigenous Advancement Strategy money — which is meant to come to us — to fund police dogs and build a police station in WA.
“We could use that money to employ young people with lived-experience to support their communities. Children should not be blamed for the inability of these governments to do the right thing.”
Racism
Thorpe said the failed Voice to Parliament referendum had “allowed racism to rear its ugly head” and that it is “causing a lot of harm”.
“It was a wasted exercise that Albanese bullied through.” She said racism is real and First Nations people face it every day “in the streets, on public transport, at the shops.”
Asked about Coalition leader Peter Dutton’s Trumpian culture wars against the Aboriginal flag and Invasion Day events, Thorpe said his approach is “a disgusting political stunt” that divides the country and “puts fear into people”.
“Dutton and his mates Pauline Hanson and Ralph Babet continue to perpetuate this racist regime that hurts people,” Thorpe said.
After leaving the Australian Greens in 2023, Thorpe announced she was using her position to project the views and concerns of the Blak Sovereign Movement.
“For 240 years, they have tried to wipe us off the face of this Earth, tried to deny that we are the sovereign people of this land … but we are maintaining our resistance and our message that it is us, not the Crown or the Parliament, that are sovereign.”
Truth-telling
Thorpe reiterated her call for truth-telling as a first step towards real justice. “Truth-telling rounds everything up and we are calling for a national process. It’s not very hard.
“Truth-telling would give people an understanding of where we are today and why our people are so poor, sick, dying and dispossessed of their lands and waters.
Thorpe said while truth-telling could be confronting for perpetrators, it could also be healing. “It could give people a sense of understanding, empathy and connection to what this land is about.”
But the major parties are “blocking this process for their own political gains”, she said.
Thorpe pledged her steadfast support for the Palestine solidarity movement, saying she uses her Senator position as a platform for activism and solidarity.
“It’s not ‘the Lidia Thorpe seat’, it’s the Blak Sovereign Movement seat, it's the Palestine solidarity seat, it's the West Papua solidarity seat, it's the Kanaky solidarity seat.
“It’s my duty to continue the fight and bring other people along on that journey and build international solidarity.”
Genocide bill
Thorpe said she would continue to push her private member’s Criminal Code Amendment (Genocide, Crimes Against Humanity and War Crimes) Bill 2024, which seeks to restrict the attorney-general’s power to block the prosecution of genocide in courts.
Currently, only the attorney-general can decide on prosecution of a genocide case. Neither Attorney-General Richard Dreyfus, nor any of his predecessors, has allowed a case to go ahead.
“This is a colonial tool they use to get away with genocide.”
Thorpe's bill was up for debate on the last sitting day of parliament in November, but she was suspended from parliament after allegedly throwing a piece of paper at Pauline Hanson, who had just launched a racist tirade against Senator Fatima Payman.
Instead, Payman introduced three other bills, in collaboration with Thorpe, which aim to change existing laws.
The first is the Genocide Risk Reporting Bill 2024, which would establish an Anti-Genocide Commissioner, tasked with ensuring full compliance with the core obligations of the 1948 Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide.
Second is the Treasury Laws Amendment (Divesting from Illegal Israeli Settlements) Bill 2024, which amends the Future Funds Act 2006 to prohibit financial investments in companies operating in illegal Israeli settlements. It also prevents registered charities from funding these companies by amending the Australian Charities and Not-for-Profits Commission Act 2012.
Third, the Defence Trade Controls Amendment (Genocide, War Crimes and Crimes Against Humanity) Bill 2024 would prohibit the defence minister from granting permits for defence and strategic goods to countries which risk committing serious violations of international law, including genocide.
It requires the minister to take International Court of Justice and International Criminal Court decisions into account.
Thorpe believes she can secure cross-bench support for these bills. “They are not too controversial for some cross-benchers.”