Lidia Thorpe tells the truth about our performative parliament

Since entering Parliament, Independent Senator for Victoria Lidia Thorpe has been unwavering in her full-throttled advocacy for us Indigenous folk. She brought her typically unfiltered energy to our chat about clearing a path for young people in politics, the government’s complicity in the destruction of Gaza, and how Parliament could benefit from getting “rid of a few racists”.
At the end of last month, we asked how you were feeling about Australian politics right now. The responses were grim: 89 percent of you didn’t feel inspired by politics; 83 percent had no confidence that the Labor Government would address your issues; 93 percent felt unrepresented. That didn’t sound good, so we decided to take your concerns to the seat of power. That’s right, Junkee went down to Parliament House. During Budget Week, no less. We spoke to Senators and Members of Parliament from the Labor Government, The Australian Greens, and the Independents about the stuff you told us you care about. (We reached out to Liberals too, but no one wanted to talk. Honestly, we tried.)
thank you to:
Lidia Thorpe
junkee's production team:
Ky Stewart
Talecia Vescio
Lauren Jones
Abbey Sheather