Thorpe and Dutton in fierce ‘racist’ row

By PETER ROWE

Independent Senator Lidia Thorpe sparked a vicious debate online on Tuesday evening when she claimed on a podcast that Opposition leader Peter Dutton was a racist and a “violent person”.

“Dutton used to be a Queensland police officer who caused damage to a lot of blackfellas on the street, wheeling his power around the streets,” Thorpe said on the Green Left show.

Ms Thorpe then said Australia Day was being used by the white population of Australia to endorse cultural dominance.

“White people are becoming the minority in this country and they are really scared of that,’ she said.

“Black and brown people are rising up and they are getting more and more desperate in their messaging.

“And that’s because they are scared and they want to put that fear into others.”

Mr Dutton, when asked to comment on Ms Thorpe’s views, told 2GB radio in Sydney she didn’t deserve promotion.

“She shouldn’t be in the Senate,” he said.

“She’s not stable enough to be a member of the Australian parliament and I think people recognise that through her actions.”

Liberal Indigenous campaigner Warren Mundine said Ms Thorpe’s comments were “nonsense”.

“They are just throwaway lines designed to keep her name in the paper – and to some extent it works,” Mr Mundine said.

https://www.greenleft.org.au/video/green-left-show-47-lidia-thorpe-truth-telling-first-step-towards-justice