Thorpe’s on the fence
Blak sovereignty beats a ‘powerless voice’
SENATOR Lidia Thorpe hasn’t decided which side of the Voice debate she will sit on but said the Government must be prepared to hear the case of the “progressive no”.
Senator Thorpe – who this month defected from the Greens to sit as an independent speaking for the Blak sovereign movement – said “progressive no’s” wanted something more powerful than the “powerless voice” the Government is championing.
She said it was a “sad state of affairs” that white Australians would ultimately make the decision that impacts First Nations people.
Senator Thorpe said the voices of Indigenous people risked being drowned out by the “loud” yes campaign, bank rolled by corporate Australia.
“It is going to be a lot louder than those grassroots black fellas on the ground who have very serious issues with the proposal,” she said on ABC Radio. “And that’s a shame because at the end of the day, we are only 3 per cent (of the population).
“So it’s the progressives in this country that will make the decision for us ultimately, and that’s a sad state of affairs in this country that white progressives think they know best for us.”
Asked whether she believed she would be any closer to her aims if the referendum failed, Senator Thorpe said “we’ll cross that bridge when we come to it”.
She said she had written to the Prime Minister about meeting with the referendum working group, saying that she wanted to bring her views to the table.
“I feel that the PM is talking in you know, forked tongues, basically. He’s saying to the conservatives, look, it’s OK everybody. It has no power. We will have the ultimate power. They’re just an advisory body,” she said. “Then he goes to the black people and he says this is going to save the world, this is going to save the culture.”
Senator Thorpe’s comments came as Prime Minister Anthony Albanese prepared to launch the “yes” campaign in Adelaide on Thursday night.
He has indicated the referendum will be held between October and December this year, and if successful, a body would be legislated by the end of this term of government.
The Greens support the voice, while the Nationals do not. The Liberal Party has yet to reach a final decision, and Opposition Leader Peter Dutton is still pushing for detail – but he is engaged with working groups.
When asked if it troubled her that she might “end up on the side with” Mr Dutton and the Liberals, Senator Thorpe said that was a view dripping in systemic racism.
“It troubles me that white progressives use that as an excuse,
and that’s part of the problem that, you know, if you vote no you’re going to stand with Peter Dutton or Pauline Hanson,” she said. “So that’s another way of taking away the voice of those grassroots black fellas who have a progressive no that the white progressives don’t want to hear.”