Dutton: Thorpe should go
PETER Dutton says he would refer Greens senator Lidia Thorpe to a national anti-corruption commission over the revelations about her relationship with an ex-bikie boss.
Senator Thorpe resigned as Greens deputy Senate leader after it was revealed she had failed to disclose she had been dating former Rebels president Dean Martin while she was sitting on a law enforcement committee.
She has said she “briefly dated” Martin and that he was “no longer involved with that world” when they were together.
The head of the parliamentary joint committee on Friday launched an investigation into whether Senator Thorpe broke any confidences while a sitting member of the committee.
The Opposition Leader said Senator Thorpe was “not fit” to serve in the Australian parliament.
Speaking to Sky News on Sunday, Mr Dutton called on Greens Leader Adam Bandt to sack her from the party.
“Adam Bandt is the leader of his party, he has been made aware of very serious allegations and he should be the one that is dealing with them,” Mr Dutton said.
Mr Dutton said he’d be “very happy” to refer the matter to the national anti-corruption commission if it was established.
“For a member of the Australian parliament to be consorting with somebody in the senior ranks of one of the biker gangs at the same time that she’s receiving classified intelligence briefings in the committee is unacceptable,” he said.
Mr Dutton has offered tentative support for the Albanese government’s Bill to establish a national anti-corruption commission. But the Coalition is yet to confirm if it will support the legislation to pass through parliament.