Newly elected Greens MP, Lidia Thorpe was welcomed to Victoria parliament as the first Indigenous woman in the institution’s 161-year history.
The Gunnai-Gunditjmara woman hails from a long line of strong and dedicated women who have made significant contributions to their people and the entire country.
Her grandmother Alma Thorpe attended the swearing in ceremony from the public gallery. it was her family who helped found the Victorian Aboriginal health service in Fitzroy in 1973. A place that became the epicenter of Aboriginal political life in Melbourne.
Lidia Thorpe was in the midst of all the action from a young age. Most recently she was Managing Director of Indigenous Business at The Clan Corporation and chair of the Victorian NAIDOC committee.
Prior to her electoral success Lidia Thorpe's contribution to the community had already been well established and acknowledged winning the Fellowship for Indigenous Leadership Award in 2008.
Lidia served on the Bairnsdale Regional Health Board and the Lake Tyers Aboriginal Trust managing the training centre.
Lidia Thorpe's political engagement is not limited to the the promotion of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people’s rights.
As an environmentalist, she led a successful campaign against the eastern gas pipeline to save Nowa Nowa Gorge in East Gippsland.
She’s also been engaged in other Social Justice issues affecting the wider community.
Having experienced life in public housing, she champions the increase of public housing availability in Melbourne. A survivor of domestic violence and a tireless campaigner against the plague of family violence.
Fighting the effects of poker machines in the community is another one of her many battles.
In her inaugural speech Lidia Thorpe paid tribute to her predecessor calling the event "a bittersweet moment" as Fiona Richardson, the long-serving Labour MP whose death triggered the by-election was also an advocate for victims of family violence and Victoria’s first Minister for the Prevention of Family Violence.
"Their lives are debated but not reflected in our political system. As long as those voices are missing from the heart of our democracy we limit our children’s potential. They can’t be what they can’t see."
Ms Thorpe is also an outspoken proponent for a Treaty recognizing the sovereignty of the local Indigenous community.
She supports the Makarrata Truth Telling Commission but underlines she doesn’t support a Constitutionally enshrined voice.
Speaking to NITV earlier she said “We as sovereign First Nations people reject constitutional recognition. We do not recognise occupying power or their sovereignty, because it serves to dis-empower, and takes away our voice.”
Lidia Thorpe - Greens MP, maiden speech in Victoria Parliament Source: AAP Image/Joe Castro
“For an Aboriginal kid who grew up in public housing at the age of 14, taking my seat in this Chamber is something I was told could never happen. Too many of our kids grow up believing this. Their lives are debated but not reflected in our political system.
"As long as those voices are missing from the heart of our democracy we limit our children’s potential. They can’t be what they can’t see. This is why today matters. It is a moment 161 years in the making. And it does not only belong to me. I’ve been inundated with message from Aboriginal people from across the country. I speak today on behalf of them.”
Lidia Thorpe says that being in parliament gives her the right platform to speak for her people. She also vowed to represent her Northcote electorate unreservedly.
