Lidia Thorpe will file a complaint for racism

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The independent senator has revealed she will be filing a racism complaint over the way she was treated in her former party.

A howling match broke out between Independent MP Lidia Thorpe and Deputy Minister for Indigenous Australians Malarndirri McCarthy in Senate estimates on Wednesday, Sky News political editor Andrew Clennell said.

DjabWurrung Gunnai Gunditjmara and independent senator said her lawyer advised her there were “enough grounds for a case”.

Senator Thorpe left the Greens party to represent the ‘sovereign Blak movement’.

Speaking to ABC’s Insiders on Sunday, Senator Thorpe said she had “experienced racism all my life in all workplaces, and the Greens were no different.”

“I want racism to be eradicated… It’s called institutional racism,” she said.

“It’s the foundation of these institutions that are racist, that allow racism to happen. I think we all need to look within and eradicate this and make our workplaces safer.

Earlier this week, Senator Thorpe accused his former colleague Sarah Hanson-Young of racism in a tense exchange during Senate estimates.

She made the allegation as Senator Hanson-Young chatted with ABC Chief Executive David Anderson and News Director Justin Stevens about the national broadcaster’s handling of Stan Grant’s exit from Q+A for racial abuse.

“She needs to watch herself,” Senator Thorpe was heard asking.

Independent Senator Lidia Thorpe has said she experienced racism while with the Greens. Image: NCA NewsWire/Gary Ramage

On The Voice, Senator Thorpe also confirmed that she was “seriously considering” abstaining from voting in Parliament and the open ballot.

Citing concerns about the lack of detail and the lack of practical action to improve the lives of Indigenous people, she said she would “definitely not” vote no in the referendum.

But she also said she could not support the Voice in its current form because it would allow “a powerless voice to enter the constitution”.

“I am not on the no side and I have never been on the no side. I will not sit with racists and white supremacists on the no side,” she told ABC’s Insiders.

She said that when the Constitution Amendment Bill comes to the Senate – which will pave the way for a referendum as it will detail the question that will be put to Australians – she will consider abstaining.

Senator Thorpe said the government should consider her amendment that would “recognize the sovereign status of First Nations peoples” and raised concerns about the composition of the Voice.

“We don’t know what it looks like. It could be one person. It’s up to Parliament to decide what the Voice looks like,” she said.

“So I can’t support something that doesn’t give us any power. And I certainly can’t support a no campaign that looks more like a white supremacist campaign that causes a lot of harm. »

She said she was considering abstaining in the Voice vote. Photo: NCA NewsWire/Martin Ollman

Senator Thorpe also criticized the government’s process for crafting the referendum, arguing that task force members were “hand-picked” and excluded “from the grassroots, sovereign blackfellas across the country.”

Senator Thorpe said she was still pushing for the government to take practical action, saying she would consider voting ‘yes’ if it was done.

“We have incarceration rates spiraling out of control and we have over 22,000 Indigenous children in care outside the home today,” she said.

“That’s the priority this country should be talking about. The government has the opportunity to show good faith and implement these recommendations.

“They might get my vote if they do.”

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