Lidia Thorpe labels Malarndirri McCarthy a member of the ‘native police’ in ‘derogatory’ Senate speech

Labor frontbencher accuses Thorpe of using ‘reprehensible’ language and making her feel ‘culturally unsafe’

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The Labor frontbencher Malarndirri McCarthy has accused Lidia Thorpe of using “reprehensible” language and making her feel “culturally unsafe” in the Senate after the independent senator referred to her as being a member of the “native police” in the government’s ranks.

Thorpe, an independent senator for Victoria, made the comments in the Senate on Monday in a speech about the policing of First Nations people and the incarceration of Indigenous children.

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