Key Points
- A parliamentary committee has cleared independent senator Lidia Thorpe of contempt over her connection to an ex-bikie boss.
- Senator Thorpe now claims she had no relationship with the man, and that the Greens pressured her to make that claim.
- But in November, she told the committee she had 'dated' him.
Former Greens senator Lidia Thorpe has denied having a relationship with an ex-bikie boss and claimed she was pressured into an admission by the party, just after a parliamentary report on the matter cleared her of contempt.
But her comments appear to amount to a concession that a statement she made to parliament's privileges committee in November, in which she gave evidence the pair did date, was false.
Asked whether she was concerned that she had issued a false report, a spokesperson told SBS News the matter had been "finalised".
Senator Thorpe, , while a member of the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Law Enforcement.
Mr Martin has no criminal convictions.
Senator Thorpe, who quit the Greens in February, now denies having had a relationship with Mr Martin. Source: AAP / Lukas Coch / AAP
"I was basically mauled by the media in that time, mauled by the media. I had no relationship with that person. I was given legal advice by the Greens lawyer to say that I had to say I dated this person," she said.
"I got mauled by all of you in here for something I did not do ... You demonised me all and today, I have been cleared of any wrongdoing."
'A kiss'
Senator Thorpe said the pair's romantic relationship amounted to a kiss at an Invasion Day rally in 2021, when she said she was not aware of Mr Martin's links to the Rebels.
"I lost my position as well, for what? A kiss on Invasion Day with some black man at a rally, who happened to be an ex-biker. I didn't ask for his resume," she said.
Senator Thorpe said she referred herself to the committee because "I knew I had done nothing wrong".
A spokesperson for Mr Bandt said: “The facts as we understand them are those that are set out in Senator Thorpe’s letter to the privileges committee. The information in the letter is consistent with the information Senator Thorpe and others provided to us."
That submission in November appears to directly contradict Senator Thorpe's claim, made on Tuesday, that there was "no relationship" between the pair.
In the submission, Senator Thorpe repeated her claim that she met Mr Martin at an Invasion Day rally and that the pair dated in March of that year.
Senator Thorpe claimed in her submission to a parliamentary privileges committee that the pair "dated" in March 2021.
"Since then, we have remained friends and have collaborated on our shared interest: advocating for the rights of First Nations people."
Issuing a false statement to the secretive committee is deemed a serious matter. But if the committee believes they have been misled, guidelines say the first step is to seek an explanation from the witness.
When asked to clarify whether Senator Thorpe was alleging the lawyers had advised her to lie to the committee, and whether she was concerned she had issued a false report, her office did not respond directly.
They also did not clarify whether the relationship was limited to January 2021, or had begun two months later.
"The matter you’re enquiring about has been finalised," a spokesperson said.
They said Senator Thorpe was focusing on: an Indigenous Treaty, pressuring the government to implement recommendations from the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody, the recommendations from the Bringing Them Home Report, and addressing the removal of Aboriginal children.
Cleared of contempt
Just before Senator Thorpe addressed the Senate, Liberal senator Slade Brockman, chair of the privileges committee, revealed it had not found her in contempt.
Senator Brockman denied suggestions that Senator Thorpe had, or was even capable, of passing on information to Mr Martin.
"Media coverage of this matter was clearly intended to suggest that Senator Thorpe had utilised her membership of the joint committee to further the interests of an outlaw motorcycle gang," he said.
"However, the evidence to the privileges committee demonstrates that the media coverage of this matter was inaccurate in some important respects.
"In particular, the implication that Senator Thorpe used her position inappropriately, or even had access to information of the type speculated about in the media coverage, is not borne out."
Senator Thorpe said: "To think, all you people thought that I had been running off with some bikie gang, telling secrets about what goes on in this place. What kind of person do you think I am? I think I deserve an apology from the leader of the Greens."
The report also found no evidence that Senator Thorpe's failure to disclose the relationship had caused reluctance on behalf of law enforcement to provide information to the committee.
But it stressed that "much is left to [senators'] good judgement" when it came disclosing potential or perceived conflicts of interest, and noted Senator Thorpe herself had conceded she should have revealed her connection to Mr Martin.
