After a successful motion put forward by Senator Lidia Thorpe, the Senate Committee on Legal and Constitutional Affairs is accepting submissions for an inquiry on the application of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP) in Australia.

“The UNDRIP is a mechanism for First Nations people to enact our Sovereign rights, which have been denied since 1788”, said Senator Lidia Thorpe, a DjabWurrung, Gunnai and Gunditjmara woman and the Greens Senator for Victoria.

When First Nations people fight for Country, against dirty mining companies or corporate landowners with deep pockets, they’re often locked in a long, expensive and ultimately unfair legal battle.

The Greens have a plan to balance the scales, by making billionaires and big polluters pay their fair share of tax. Through a ‘billionaires tax’ and a ‘corporate super-profits tax,’ we can put resources towards an environmental and cultural heritage legal defence fund.

The Security Legislation Amendment (Critical Infrastructure) Bill 2021 was passed into law yesterday despite some key stakeholders opposing it.  Senator Lidia Thorpe moved an amendment to the Bill to alert the Senate of these concerns, including the lack of proper consultation and the overregulation of industry. 

The Senate ignored these concerns and passed the bill into law anyway. 

After passing over 70 counter-terrorism laws in the past two decades, the Government passed the Counter-Terrorism Legislation Amendment (High Risk Terrorist Offenders) Bill into law.

This new law will amend the Criminal Code Act 1995  to introduce extended supervision orders, which may be imposed on terrorist offenders released into the community if a court is satisfied that the individual poses an unacceptable risk of committing certain serious terrorism offences.  

The Economic Empowerment Bill 2021 puts forward the most comprehensive changes in 45 years to the Australian Land Rights Act 1976. After successfully negotiating for the Bill to go to a full Inquiry, Senator Lidia Thorpe notes that 92% of submissions are against this bill.

“The Senate inquiry into the Bill has revealed a lack of consultation on this Bill and most stakeholders who gave evidence reject this Bill."

“Most submissions call for the Bill to be axed, it's telling that only the likes of the Mineral Council want this Bill to go ahead.”

The Australian Greens condemn the move by the Meeting of Attorneys General (MAG) towards raising the age of legal responsibility from 10 to 12 years of age. 

“The MAG announcement shows a deliberate disregard of the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child, medical evidence and First Nations advocates. The experts all agree: we need to raise the age of legal responsibility to 14.” Said the Greens spokesperson for Justice and First Nations, Senator Lidia Thorpe.

Gomeroi man, Stanley Russell, a father, was shot dead by NSW police. His brother, Eddie Russell, died in police custody in 1999. “Violence against First Nations people is a national crisis and the Morrison Government is doing nothing about it,” said Gunnai, Gunditjmara and DjabWurrung Senator for Victoria Lidia Thorpe.

The following lines are attributable to the Greens spokesperson for Justice and First Nations, Senator Lidia Thorpe:

“Mobilising the police and Australian Defence Force to treat a public health crisis is absurd,” said The Greens spokesperson for Justice and First Nations Senator Lidia Thorpe, as the ADF begins their deployment to Western Sydney. 

“Officers of the law are not experts in public health messaging, culturally accessible information and welfare support services that enable people to stay at home safely,” said Thorpe. Western Sydney has a significant First Nations and multicultural community. 

Thirty years since the final report of the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody, Australia has yet to reckon with its history and the reality that Black Lives Matter.

George Floyd couldn’t breathe - and across the world, his death sparked a renewed conversation around racial injustice, justice systems and police reform.

The Greens have again called on the Government to act urgently to end Blak deaths in custody, following reports today of yet another death of a First Nations man in custody  - the fourth in the past fortnight.

The Aboriginal Legal Service of NSW and ACT today reports that Barkindji man Anzac Sullivan, 37, died during a police pursuit in Broken Hill on Thursday 18 March.