STATEMENT REGARDING SENATOR LIDIA THORPE’S RESIGNATION FROM THE GREENS PARTY

The Black Peoples Union would like to send our strength and solidarity to Senator Lidia Thorpe today on news of her resignation from the Greens Party.

The news is welcomed by the BPU and shows Senator Thorpe’s unrelenting commitment and dedication to real grassroots voices all over this continent.

Party politics in Australia has long been weaponised against First Nations people and our struggles. The tokenistic gestures by all levels of Government and all political parties have shown their inability to listen and learn from us; merely allowing only paternalistic reformist policy that ceases to achieve anything tangible.

The attacks on Senator Thorpe and other Black grassroots voices by ALL parties have been a blight on this country’s political landscape. The attacks on Indigenous voices and attempts to silence them even by the parties who support a “Voice” demonstrate that white Australia is not ready to actually listen to Indigenous voices and our struggles, therefore a “Voice to Parliament” would essentially be moot; cherry picked voices that don’t represent calls for Sovereignty, Self-Determination and Land Back like we demand!

Today, we’ve seen staunch First Nations resolve and dedication be paramount in Senator Thorpe’s unwavering commitment to the grassroots and 235yrs of our struggles! This is an important show of real integrity for a significant First Nations leader and for all leaders and we applaud Senator Thorpe’s decision.

We are excited to see what comes now from Senator Thorpe and how we can together continue to stoke the fires of our Sovereignty and achieve what we rightfully deserve.

We invite Senator Thorpe, and all grass-roots First Nations voices, to stand with the Black Peoples Union in our push for Sovereignty, Self-Determination and our Land Back – together we can achieve our dreams.

In solidarity,

The Black Peoples Union