According to reports, Greens senator Lidia Thorpe will bring up her covert association with a former bikie boss before a parliamentary committee.
Ms. Thorpe plans to write to the Senate president asking him to have the privileges committee of the Upper House investigate into her interactions with the former leader of the Victorian Rebels.
According to Guardian Australia, Ms. Thorpe’s choice was approved by the Greens party room and demonstrated her support for the inquiry’s continuation.
The connection between Ms. Thorpe and Dustin Martin’s ex-bikie uncle in 2021 was made public last Thursday.
Adam Bandt, the leader of the Greens, requested that Ms. Thorpe resign from her position as the party’s deputy leader in the Senate, which she did after being criticized for acting with “severe lack of judgment.”
As a member of a joint parliamentary law enforcement committee, Ms. Thorpe’s connection with Martin came to light following concerns that her staff were troubled by it.
The Australian Federal Police gave highly exclusive briefings to the committee regarding its attempts to keep an eye on the activities of illegal motorcycle gangs.
The ABC reports that in May 2021 and June 2021, Ms. Thorpe disclosed her relationship with Martin to two of her staff members.
When private committee materials showed up in the senator’s Melbourne office in August 2021—the day after she had visited Martin in a nearby park—one of those staff members challenged Ms. Thorpe about the relationship’s risks.
After telling Ms. Thorpe that the “risks are catastrophic” of her connection with Martin being found, the staff member then wrote a work diary note, according to the ABC.
The journal entry also stated that Ms. Thorpe and Martin corresponded using the messaging service Signal, noting that “she was being incredibly cautious” and that “they clean their talks once a week, that they never meet at their respective residences.”
The employee said Ms. Thorpe decided against following relationship suggestion, saying, “I underlined the big, genuine danger.” She assured me that the relationship was over.
When Martin showed up in Ms. Thorpe’s electorate office in February of this year and they chatted in private for 15 minutes in a room, the same individual was even more disturbed.
The purpose of the meeting, according to Ms. Thorpe, was to “address matters linked to the deportation of First Nations individuals, especially his brother [Shane]”.
Martin is a member of the bikies, yet he has never been convicted of a crime.
Ms. Thorpe has emphasized that she has never inadvertently disclosed private information she has obtained while serving on a committee. This year, she no longer served on the committee.
Naturally, I’m worried about illegal motorcycle groups’ criminal activity in general. However, Mr. Martin was no longer a part of that scene when we met, she told the ABC.
Members of the committee, including Ms. Thorpe, were reportedly informed on highly classified police operations and inquiries into the trafficking of narcotics and weapons by illegal motorcycle gangs.
The relationship’s disclosure raises the potential that Ms. Thorpe may face a formal reprimand from the Federal parliament when it meets next week.
Sussan Ley, the deputy leader of the Liberal Party, said that there were important problems to be addressed and urged Labor to support a resolution of censure against Ms. Thorpe in the Senate when the federal legislature reconvenes.
You can’t be in bed with one of the outlaw motorcycle gangs at night and be getting private briefings on them during the day. She said on Friday to Sunrise, “That’s not right.
“From what I gather, a resolution of censure will be introduced in the Senate… I’m hoping Labor will back it.
Peter Dutton, the leader of the opposition, has gone a step further and suggested Ms. Thorpe resign from the legislature.
He said on Thursday night to Sky News, “I don’t believe Lidia Thorpe belongs in the parliament.”
“She should be quitting the Greens and the Australian parliament,” was the statement.
Ms. Thorpe’s apparent conflict of interest was a “no-brainer,” according to education minister Jason Clare, who also called it “huge.”
He said on Sunrise that “you can’t be on an investigation looking into outlaw motorcycle gangs and be in a relationship with a (former) outlaw motorcycle gang member, a bikie.”
The Greens leader, Adam Bandt, who said he was just made aware of Ms. Thorpe’s friendship with Martin following inquiries from the ABC last week, has more explaining to do, according to Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, who is in Western Australia.
The prime minister said, “I observe that Senator Thorpe has remarked that this is an error of judgment—that is the least term that I would give to it.
Adam Bandt must clarify what he knew, what his office knew, and why he didn’t know about these difficulties given that his office was notified in the first place.
Mr. Bandt is being pressed to explain why the leader was uninformed of the situation until last week while his chief of staff Damien Lawson seemed to be aware of it in October last year.
He said on Thursday, “People are entitled to expect that when there are matters that influence the job of senators, all members of parliament, that they would be reported.”
“As leader, I want my senators and MPs to use sound judgment, particularly those in senior positions.”
At the very least, Senator Thorpe ought to tell me about her relationship with Mr. Martin, and her reluctance to do so revealed a serious lack of judgment.
Ms. Thorpe said that she had admitted her errors.
She released a statement that said, “I… have not used good judgment.”
“I will now consider this and concentrate on my significant portfolio work, including campaigning for First Nations people,” the speaker said.