Lidia Thorpe set to quit politics when her term expires

Independent Senator Lidia Thorpe is set to quit politics when her seat comes up for election in five years’ time.

The outspoken Victorian senator said she did not plan on recontesting the upper house when her term expires in 2028.

“I don’t intend on running again, definitely not,” she told Nine’s 60 Minutes program.

“I’m 50 next month … I don’t want to become an old crusty politician with old daggy ideas, we need new people coming in with fresh ideas.”

Senator Thorpe entered federal politics in 2020 as a member of the Greens, filling the vacancy left by the resignation of former party leader Richard Di Natale.

She was reelected to the Senate in 2022, but quit the party in February following division regarding the proposed Indigenous Voice to Parliament referendum.

“I’m really serious about my job, I love my job, and I’ve been able to make big changes in the short time that I’ve been here,” she said.

“But in the next five years, I’ll do as much as I possibly can to bring justice to First Nations people, and to make sure battlers out there aren’t struggling the way they are.”

Senator Thorpe has been a vocal advocate for the No vote ahead of the Indigenous Voice referendum, set to take place between October and December.

She argues the body would not be effective in addressing issues impacting Indigenous peoples and instead has called for a treaty.

“We are not one homogenous group of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people,” she said.

“We’re allowed to think differently and we are allowed to say no on the grounds that it is not enough.”

Senator Thorpe in June used a parliamentary address to accuse fellow senator David Van of sexual harassment.

Senator Van, who has denied the allegations, resigned from the Liberal Party to go to the crossbench following Senator Thorpe’s accusations.