Jacinta Price claims Lidia Thorpe’s position is ‘untenable’ as she calls for investigation by new national corruption commission

Jacinta Price has called on Lidia Thorpe to quit following sensational revelations she was in a relationship with ex-Rebel bikie boss Dean Martin. 

Senator Thorpe resigned from the Greens deputy Senate leadership on Thursday upon Adam Bandt’s request after it was revealed she did not disclose her relationship with the underworld figure to the party leader.

Mr Bandt said Senator Thorpe needed to report to him her connection with Martin while sitting on the Joint Law Enforcement Committee and her “failure to do so showed a significant lack of judgement”.

While Senator Thorpe has stepped away from her leadership roles, she remains the party’s spokesperson on First Nations, the republic and sport – a move which Ms Price has described as “untenable”.

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“She should be stripped of any further responsibilities, she shouldn’t be holding portfolios, basically her position is untenable,” the Country Liberal Senator told Sky News Australia’s Laura Jayes on Friday.

“This isn’t the first error or poor judgement the senator has made.

“For Adam Bandt to suggest that it’s a significant error of judgement, yes that’s correct, however to go on to say that she is fit to be able to represent the interests of indigenous Australians demonstrates just how low the standard is that the Greens hold for the betterment of marginalised indigenous Australians.

“Marginalised Indigenous Australians deserve much better than this, Australians deserve much better than this.”

Ms Price said she wanted to see the Greens disendorse the Senator and an investigation launched into the revelations by the new anti-corruption committee.

“She’s never really held to account for her behaviour,” Ms Price said.

“I think that there needs to be an investigation, certainly to the anti-corruption commission… taxpayers, Australians, need peace of mind throughout all of this.

“She’s clearly misled her own leadership which means she’s misled the Australian people.”

Ms Price said the blame was not squarely on Senator Thorpe, but “the general attitude of the Greens all together”.

“The standards you walk past is the standards you hold, and they’ve clearly walked past her standards over and over again in fact they endorse that sort of behaviour,” she said.

“The endorsement is in the fact she’s never really held to account for her behaviour”

Liberal Senator Simon Birmingham also condemned Ms Thorpe’s behaviour saying it raised “serious issues and questions”.

“They may well give rise to privileges investigations and inquiries, and we will be pursuing those thoroughly in Senate proceedings over the course of the next week,” he said.

Mr Birmingham said kicking Ms Thorpe out of the Greens was an option, however, urged Mr Bandt to be more transparent about the processes that occur in his office. 

“Lidia Thorpe’s own staff thought there was sufficient cause for concern to raise these issues with Adam Bandt’s office, and yet it seems as if that’s where they died,” he said.

“Where the information was just tucked in a bottom drawer and forgotten about. Rather than real action being taken.”