Senator Lidia Thorpe is a proud Gunnai, Gunditjmara and Djab Wurrung woman, lifelong activist and fighter for human rights, social justice and the environment. Senator Thorpe is the portfolio holder and Greens Federal spokesperson for First Nations, Justice, and Sport. In 2017, Lidia Thorpe became the first Aboriginal person elected to Victorian parliament, as the Greens MP for Northcote. In September 2020, Lidia took her seat as Victoria's first Aboriginal Senator in the federal Parliament. Lidia was sworn in to the Senate holding a message stick burned with 441 marks, one for each death in custody since the handing down of the findings of the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody in 1991 and holding up her fist in a gesture of strength and solidarity.
She says "Fighting for environmental and social justice is at the heart of who I am, and why I proudly call the Greens home. As your Senator for Victoria, I will work for Greens members and for all Victorians in the Federal Parliament." "I am proud to embody the Greens belief that Federal Parliament should reflect the strengths and diversity of our society, and to have brought my unique experience and fighting spirit to the Greens MPs team. As someone who has experienced poverty and adversity, as a proud bearer of cultural knowledge, and as a passionate activist on climate change, growing inequality and justice for First Nations, I will continue to fight for those values we all share. How we address these issues now will define us as a nation for generations to come."