Save articles for later
Add articles to your saved list and come back to them any time.
Controversial independent senator Lidia Thorpe has been on high rotation in the news all week after her expletive-laden rant at a group of men outside Brunswick strip club Maxine’s early on Sunday morning.
But CBD has worried that the other members of the Thorpe party that night have been denied the credit they deserve for their role in the incident.
Senator Lidia Thorpe in vision captured in Sydney Road, Brunswick, on Sunday morning.Credit: Seven News
Widely aired footage shows Victoria’s NAIDOC committee chair, Stacie Piper, in the thick of the action alongside Thorpe, playing a part in the torrent of abuse unleashed by the senator in front of the venue after closing time.
The pair had earlier been celebrating the 50th birthday of Shelley Johnson, sister of Brisbane Lions footy star Chris Johnson. Shelley Johnson was not involved in the altercation.
The NAIDOC committee, which is funded to the tune of $700,000 to $800,000 annually through the Department of Premier and Cabinet, did not respond to CBD’s request for comment.
Neither the department nor First Nations Minister Gabrielle Williams wanted to go anywhere near the matter either on Wednesday, and we got no response to our attempts to contact Piper for comment.
Thorpe has said little about the incident, although she provided a statement to Channel Seven saying the men had provoked the altercation with comments about the senator’s views on race relations. The former Green is expected to say more in an interview on Thursday. It’s not with us, unfortunately, but we’ll keep you all posted.
EN-TRANSED
If Victorian Liberal leader John Pesutto reckons he’s having a nightmare with “trans issues” splitting his party – and he is – maybe he should cheer up; the state’s Greens leader, Samantha Ratnam, is in even worse straits.
Ratnam’s outfit – like the British, Canadian and New Zealand Greens – is tearing itself apart as trans rights activists campaign to rid their party of any trace of transphobia. The resignation of another woman from the party on Wednesday threw the schism back into the spotlight.
Ballarat Greens activist Helen Lewers went public with her resignation, citing – among plenty of other things – the criticism directed by senior party figures at those – Lewers among them – who rocked up at that Let Women Speak rally in Spring Street last month.
You know the one, with the gatecrashing Nazis and all. A demo that brings Greens and Nazis together? Quite something indeed but that’s probably the least of the local Greens’ worries right now. Lewers, for the record, says she does not have any time for Nazis.
A special meeting of the party’s ruling state council on Thursday is expected to wave through sweeping changes to the party’s code of conduct, codifying a nine-point definition of transphobia. Plenty of allegations of transgressions are expected to follow.
Internal tensions look likely to increase when a “special panel of inquiry” delivers its report at the end of April, a month later than scheduled. There are fears that mass expulsions, including those of City of Melbourne councillor Rohan Leppert and former party convenor Linda Gale, who have both been accused of – and deny – transphobia, will follow.
One senior party member told CBD that things had become seriously weird in the Greens.
“The party has become a hotbed of authoritarianism and members are too afraid to speak in meetings for fear of retribution,” they said. “I can’t even remember the last time the state council discussed climate change.” Neither Ratnam’s office nor the state branch was keen to comment on Wednesday.
IN KILTER
We haven’t seen for some time anything quite like trucking magnate Lindsay Fox’s 86th birthday bash at the National Gallery of Victoria, either for the array of power and money showing up for the lunchtime affair, or for the sheer blokiness of the thing.
Lindsay Fox’s son Andrew (left) and Greg Norman make their way into the birthday bash on Wednesday.Credit: Eamon Gallagher
Among the 130-odd guests, we had Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, Premier Daniel Andrews – a great mate of Fox’s – federal Opposition Leader Peter Dutton, Hollywood heavyweight Eric Bana and golfing legend Greg Norman. If there were any women in attendance, they escaped the notice of CBD’s informants at the venue.
Attendees were asked to wear a kilt, if they could, and you’d have to say that most of the lads were somewhere along the tartan spectrum, from the full rig deployed by Fox’s son Andrew Fox, to, well, nothing at all in the case of Norman and Bana.
Our informants outside the gallery also spotted retailer extraordinaire Solly Lew, footy-telly-radio bloke Eddie McGuire, former Australian Olympic Committee president John Coates, former premier Jeff Kennett and AFL coaching legend Kevin Sheedy.
NAILING IT
Spotted: Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek getting her nails done on Wednesday morning while being briefed by staff – the work of a frontbencher never lets up – at a salon in Sydney’s Sofitel Wentworth Hotel.
The hotel is handy to the Commonwealth parliamentary offices just up the road, but it’s also where the local Liberals like to party on election nights, enjoying many a moment the Labor veteran might want to forget.
The Morning Edition newsletter is our guide to the day’s most important and interesting stories, analysis and insights. Sign up here.
Most Viewed in National
From our partners
Source: Read Full Article
